Benny Beaver

Last updated
Benny Beaver
BennyBeaverPhoto.jpg
Benny (Patrick H.) with former Oregon State Marching Band director Brad Townsend
UniversityOregon State University
Conference Pac-12
Description Beaver: Aquatic mammal
Origin of nameTerritory's first major industry
First seen1942
Related mascot(s)Bernice Beaver

Benny Beaver is the official mascot of Oregon State University and winner of the 2011 Capital One Mascot of the Year write-in campaign. The date of the first use of the beaver as the university's mascot is unknown, but photographs in the school's yearbook document its use as a mascot as early as the 1940s. The campus newspaper was one of the first documented university entities to use the beaver as a name, starting in 1896.

in Oregon, the beaver has always been a popular animal but even more so in Europe and the Eastern US. In fact, wealthy residents of these two regions were dressing in fashionable beaver fur long before European explorers discovered Oregon. By the late 1700s, the beaver trade was already a major global industry.

President Lincoln's iconic "beaver" top hat. Lincoln in stovepipe hat01.jpg
President Lincoln's iconic "beaver" top hat.

Beaver fur top hats were popular attire for the North American and European upper class. At the turn of the 19th century, the newly explored American Northwest was found to be plentiful with beaver. As a territory, Oregon grew into a global supplier. When Oregon became a state, it coined itself "The Beaver State" due to the beaver's historic importance as an economic catalyst for the region and, similar to the California "Gold Rush", helping to attract thousands of early pioneers and homesteaders. The beaver now appears on the back of the state flag and is recognized as the official state animal. [1]

Mascot history

Shortly after the university's school newspaper named itself the "Beaver", the university's yearbook took the name (1916). [2] The continued use of the name, mostly by the yearbook, eventually solidified the beaver as the university's official mascot. [3] The popularity of the beaver was also shared by students at University of Oregon. For several early publishings, students at this school also used "The Beaver" as their yearbook's title. [4]

Oregon State University's first documented use of "Benny Beaver" was found in a photograph showing students posing next to a statue of a beaver inscribed with the name "Benny Beaver." The photograph appears in the 1942 edition of the yearbook. [5]

BASKETBALL ATTIRE: Benny Beaver at a home game in Gill Coliseum. BennyBeaver.PNG
BASKETBALL ATTIRE: Benny Beaver at a home game in Gill Coliseum.

Prior to the beaver, Oregon State's mascot was an individual known as "Doc" Bell (1893–1928), a longtime member of the university's board of regents. [6] Bell became hugely popular among the students for his ritual of marching to the Marys River after each of Oregon State's victories over Oregon and tossing his hat into the water as a token of celebration.

Earlier mascots include "Jimmie" the Coyote (1892–1893) and "Bulldog" (1906–1910, unofficial mascot for Wrestling squad only). The beaver mascot's name, "Benny," was officially adopted in 1945 as the university mascot. Two failed attempts to maintain a live beaver mascot include Bevo Beaver (rescued from Mary's River in 1921 and later stolen [7] ) and Billy Beaver.

The early Benny Beaver "cartoon" icon/logo was created by famous graphic illustrator, and former Disney employee, Arthur C. Evans. As the art director for Angelus Pacific Company, [8] Evans submitted his design to OSU and it was approved for use in 1951. His logos were used at hundreds of other universities and high schools throughout the nation. Evans' beaver logo also appeared in the 1985 movie Teen Wolf .

During the 1940s, students carted a beaver statue in parades throughout the state and around the stadium on game days. The statue was patterned after an earlier bronze statue that also went by the name "Benny." Although the name "Benny" was adopted prior to the 1940s, a 1941 yearbook picture captions the statue as "Bill Beaver". The following yearbook (1942) a photo of the same beaver statue is cited with the name "Benny Beaver". After the statue's demise, the name "Benny" was regularly used in a popular sports column in The Daily Barometer - known as "The Gnawed Log."

The first live appearance during an athletic event by a mascot named "Benny", was September 18, 1952 and performed by Ken Austin. [9] Austin later founded Newberg, Oregon-based A-dec, the largest privately held dental equipment manufacturer in North America. Austin is now a major Oregon State donor. [10]

Between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, Benny was often joined at sporting events by a co-mascot, known as "Bernice Beaver."

In 1998 No Dinx, a graphic design shop in Albany, Oregon, redesigned the logo for the first time in nearly 50 years. In March 2013, working together with Nike, Oregon State University unveiled the latest, newly redesigned version, of the Benny Beaver logo. The new logo replaced the No Dinx design. [11] The Benny Beaver costume also changed to match the new logo in 2001. Benny wears #0 at football games and #0 at basketball games. Past numbers have included #100 (football) and #6 (basketball).

In December 2010, Benny Beaver was ranked 13th on a list titled 20 Worst Behaved Mascots Of All Time. [12] Despite the bad press, Benny Beaver won the 2011 Capital One Mascot of the Year write-in campaign, earning the mascot program $1000 and inclusion in the following year's Capital One All-America Mascot Team. [13]

During the halftime show of Oregon State Football's last home game of the 2024 season, Benny became engaged with his longtime love interest, Bernice Beaver. Since the game was being played against the Washington State Cougars, Butch T. Cougar, Washington State University's mascot, helped Benny with his proposal.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon State University</span> Public university in Corvallis, Oregon, US

Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 colleges. It has the seventh-largest engineering college in the nation for 2023. Undergraduate enrollment for all colleges combined averages over 32,000 while an additional 5,000 students are engaged in post-graduate coursework through the university. In 2023, over 37,000 students were enrolled at OSU – making it the largest university in the state. Out-of-state students typically make up over one-quarter of the student body. Since its founding, over 272,000 students have graduated from OSU. The university is classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as an R1: Doctoral University with very high research activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reser Stadium</span> Outdoor athletic stadium in Corvallis, Oregon at Oregon State University

Reser Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The home of the Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-12 Conference, it opened in 1953 as Parker Stadium and was renamed in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon–Oregon State football rivalry</span> American college football rivalry

The Oregon–Oregon State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played annually in the state of Oregon between the Ducks of the University of Oregon in Eugene and the Beavers of Oregon State University in Corvallis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goldy Gopher</span> Mascot of the University of Minnesota

Goldy Gopher is the mascot for the University of Minnesota and the associated sports teams, known as the Golden Gophers, as well as a four-time UCA Mascot National Champion. During the year, Goldy makes over 1000 appearances and is at virtually all home games for University teams, usually wearing the appropriate sporting attire. The mascot is based on the thirteen-lined ground squirrel, colloquially referred to as a “gopher” in Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slats Gill</span> American college basketball coach

Amory Tingle "Slats" Gill was an American college basketball coach, the head coach at Oregon State University in Corvallis for 36 seasons. As a player, Gill was twice named to the All-Pacific Coast Conference basketball team. As head coach, he amassed 599 victories with a winning percentage of .604. Gill was also the head coach of the baseball team for six seasons and later was the OSU athletic director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gill Coliseum</span> Building on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis, Oregon, U.S.

Gill Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the northwest United States, located on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Opened in December 1949, the arena currently lists a seating capacity of 9,301 and is home to the Oregon State Beavers' basketball, wrestling, volleyball, and gymnastics teams. It is named after Amory T. "Slats" Gill, the Beavers' basketball coach for 36 seasons, who compiled a 599–392 (.604) record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon State Beavers</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Oregon State University

The Oregon State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Oregon State's mascot is Benny the Beaver. Both the men's and women's teams share the name, competing in 7 NCAA Division I men's sports and 9 NCAA Division I women's sports respectively. The official colors for the athletics department are Beaver Orange, black, and white.

The Daily Barometer is an independent campus newspaper of Oregon State University, in Corvallis. It is published weekly during the fall, winter, and spring quarters, and monthly during the summer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hail to Old OSU</span>

"Hail to Old OSU" is the fight song of Oregon State University. It is extracted from a song written by Harold A. Wilkins in 1914 and is played mainly at sporting events like football and basketball games. The lyrics have been slightly altered since being written "to conform to a changing culture", changing to conform to new initials, and the use of a more gender-neutral version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon State University Marching Band</span> College marching band in Corvallis, Oregon

Oregon State University Marching Band, ("OSUMB"), is the marching band of Oregon State University, known as the "Spirit and Sound of OSU." The band was established in 1891. It is one of the oldest bands in the Pac-12 and the primary athletic band at Oregon State. In addition to the Oregon State University Marching Band, other athletic bands include Basketball Band, Rhythm & Beavs, Rhythm & Beavs: Travel Band, the Away Game Pep Band, Alumni Band, Gymnastics Band, and Bar Band. All band members are required to participate in marching band before they may be eligible to participate in any of the other athletic bands Oregon State offers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Oregon State University</span> Chronological account of notable events at Oregon State University

Oregon State University was founded as a small secondary and college preparatory school in the center of Oregon's Willamette Valley in 1856. The early school later served briefly as the first public college in the American Northwest - known then as the Oregon Territory. Shortly after Oregon was established, state leaders secured federal funding from the Morrill Land-Grant Acts to support the school, making it Oregon's designated agricultural college. Since its inception, Oregon's first public college has seen over 20 presidents and transformed from a single building to a 577 acres (2.34 km2) campus with over 36,000 students (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Platypus Trophy</span> College football trophy

The Platypus Trophy is a trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Oregon–Oregon State football rivalry game between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. The trophy depicts a platypus, an animal which has features of both a duck and a beaver. For three years, from 1959 to 1961, the trophy was awarded to the winning school. The trophy was lost for more than 40 years before being rediscovered in 2005 and proposed as the game's unofficial trophy in 2007. It is currently awarded to the alumni association of the winning school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Oregon Duck</span> Mascot of University of Oregon

The Oregon Duck is the mascot of the University of Oregon Ducks athletic program, based on Disney's Donald Duck character through a special license agreement. The mascot wears a green and yellow costume, and a green and yellow beanie cap with the word "Oregon" written on it. In PPG Paints Arena at Eagan, Minnesota, he and other mascots were joined by the Teenage Grove Hockey Wolfpack for an NHL touchdown to put it in Minnesota Wild's videos of YouTube.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets</span> Athletic teams representing Baldwin Wallace University

The Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets are the athletic teams for Baldwin Wallace University. The Yellow Jackets participate in Division III of the NCAA in the Ohio Athletic Conference. BW's rivalries include John Carroll University and University of Mount Union. BW's most successful athletic programs include cross country and swimming and diving. Among BW's most famous alumni related to athletics include Harrison Dillard, Lee Tressel, and Jim Tressel.

Lindley Bothwell was a prosperous Southern California orange grower, a consulting citrus agriculturalist from his Lindley Bothwell Ranch in the San Fernando Valley, and an antique automobile collector and racer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pistol Pete (Oklahoma State University)</span> Athletics mascot

Pistol Pete is the athletics mascot of Oklahoma State University. The Pistol Pete mascot costume features traditional cowboy attire and a headpiece resembling Frank Eaton. Pistol Pete has been the mascot for the Oklahoma State Cowboys since 1923.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon State University College of Liberal Arts</span>

Oregon State University's College of Liberal Arts is a liberal arts college at Oregon State University. The college is located on the Corvallis, Oregon main campus and offers students 66 academic programs. The college of liberal arts awarded just over a thousand undergraduate degrees in 2023, the second most of OSU colleges.

The Oregon State Beavers women's basketball team is the official women's basketball team of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. They are one of nine varsity women's sports at OSU. They are a member of the West Coast Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The team's home venue is Gill Coliseum and their official colors are orange and black. The Beavers have made 13 appearances in NCAA Tournaments, most recently in 2024 reaching the Elite Eight. The current head coach is Scott Rueck, assisted by Deven Hunter, Sydney Wiese, and Eric Ely.

The 1965 Oregon State Beavers football team represented Oregon State University in the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU) during the 1965 NCAA University Division football season. In their first season under head coach Dee Andros, the Beavers compiled a 5–5 record, and were outscored 162 to 125. They had only three home games, two on campus at Parker Stadium in Corvallis and one at Multnomah Stadium in Portland.

Ida A. Kidder was a pioneering librarian and the first professional librarian at Oregon Agricultural College, now Oregon State University. She was so loved by her students that they nicknamed her “Mother Kidder”.

References

  1. ↑ Tucker, Kathy. "Oregon State symbols". oregonencyclopedia.org. State of Oregon. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  2. ↑ "Willamatte Lost to O.A.C. 28-0". The O.A.C. Barometer. 8 November 1908.
  3. ↑ "OSU Libraries - Chronological History". Oregon State University Library. 2004. Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
  4. ↑ "UofO Libraries". University of Oregon Library. 2009. Archived from the original on 2007-12-18. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
  5. ↑ "OSU Sports History Minute - February 16, 2001". Oregon State University Beaver E-Clips. 2001. Archived from the original on June 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  6. ↑ Steve Fenk and Jason Amberg (eds.), Oregon State Football 2016. Salem, OR: Oregon State University Athletic Department, 2016; p. 3.
  7. ↑ "Real, live beaver may become Aggie mascot". Barometer. April 22, 1921.
  8. ↑ "Angelus Pacific Website". Angelus Pacific Company Company Website. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  9. ↑ "A History of Athletic Mascots at Oregon State University". Oregon State University OSU Alumni Association. 2001. Archived from the original on 2012-02-20. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  10. ↑ Edmondston, George P. "Building a Better Mousetrap". OSU Alumni Association. Archived from the original on 2006-08-31. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  11. ↑ "Benny Beaver (Interim)". Beaver Yearbook Collection. Archived from the original on 2012-12-12. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
  12. ↑ "20 Worst Behaved Mascots Of All Time: No. 13 Benny Beaver of Oregon State". Bleacher Report. 2010-12-19. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
  13. ↑ "Oregon State's "Benny The Beaver" wins write-in campaign and shot at next year's title". BusinessWire. 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.