Oski the Bear

Oski the Bear
Oski the Bear
	Oski in front of Bowles Hall
University	University of California, Berkeley
Conference	ACC
Description	Anthropomorphic Bear
First seen	September 27, 1941

Last updated November 21, 2025

Oski the Bear (Oski) is the official mascot of the University of California, Berkeley ("Cal"), representing the California Golden Bears. Named after the Oski Yell,^[1] he made his debut at a freshman rally in the Greek Theatre on September 25, 1941.^[2]^[3] Prior to his debut, live bears were used as Cal mascots.^[4] Oski's name, design, and character were developed by William “Rocky” Rockwell, who was the first student to play the role, and Warrington Colescott, an editor of The Daily Californian and famed satirist.

Oski's identity is protected by the Committee, and other than Rockwell, no other Oski has revealed their name.^[6] There is a volunteer advisor that can provide guidance to the committee.^[1] To that end, there may be multiple members of the Committee who wear the suit, depending on their schedules.^[5]

Incidents

Oski was suspended for two weeks in January 1990, for throwing a cake towards Oregon State fans, of which some landed on the father of Oregon State point guard Gary Payton.^[7]

In 1999, the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) passed a bill calling for a makeover of the "poorly constructed and pathetic version of a bear". The ASUC president vetoed the bill.^[8]

Given the rivalry with UC Berkeley and Stanford University, Oski frequently fights with Stanford's unofficial mascot, the Stanford Tree. During the 1988 Big Game, Oski and the Tree became entangled in an altercation that required security to intervene.^[9]

In 1995, an inebriated Oski and the Tree fought at a nationally televised basketball game, which was later narrated by Charley Steiner on that evening's SportsCenter and resulted in global coverage. Stanford police announced that misdemeanor charges could be filed against both parties, although none were ultimately filed. Since then, all Oskis participating in Big Games have had to be breathalyzed before entrance.^[6]

References

1 2 Kell, Gretchen (September 26, 2016). "Birthday Bear: Iconic Oski turns 75". UC Berkeley.
↑ Tong, Vinnee (1996-03-20). "Oski Has Made Us Laugh, Cry". The Daily Californian . p. 9. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
↑ "Students Jam Big Rally". The Daily Californian . 1941-09-26. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
↑ "Berkeley: Traditions". University of California History. 1966. Archived from the original on 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2015-12-01. After 1946, Oski was the charge of a special committee. This group of men between 5'2" and 5'4" in height and possessed of considerable gymnastic ability, determined Oski's schedule, planned his stunts, and took turns assuming his character.
1 2 "The Oski Committee: Keepers of Bears, secrets". The Daily Californian. 2022-04-23. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
1 2 Marek, Grant (2025-11-20). "The night ESPN watched two college mascots try to kill each other". SFGate .
↑ "Payton Linked To Grizzly Event -- Cal Mascot Gets Benched For Cake Toss | The Seattle Times". archive.seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
↑ Levi Holtz, Debra (1999-11-06). "Students Call for Cal Mascot Makeover / Student measure wants..." San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
↑ Curtis, Jake. "Top 50 Cal Sports Moments -- No. 26: Oski-Tree Fights, 1988, 1995". Sports Illustrated. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 23 May 2025.

External links

Oski.com includes many photos of Oski.
Oski biography at Official Cal Athletic Site.
The original Oski discusses the mascot's origin.
Cal Songs from the Cal Marching Band website.

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[UCB2016-1] 1 2 Kell, Gretchen (September 26, 2016). "Birthday Bear: Iconic Oski turns 75". UC Berkeley.

[2] Tong, Vinnee (1996-03-20). "Oski Has Made Us Laugh, Cry". The Daily Californian . p. 9. Retrieved 2022-05-18.

[3] "Students Jam Big Rally". The Daily Californian . 1941-09-26. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-05-18.

[4] "Berkeley: Traditions". University of California History. 1966. Archived from the original on 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2015-12-01. After 1946, Oski was the charge of a special committee. This group of men between 5'2" and 5'4" in height and possessed of considerable gymnastic ability, determined Oski's schedule, planned his stunts, and took turns assuming his character.

[:0-5] 1 2 "The Oski Committee: Keepers of Bears, secrets". The Daily Californian. 2022-04-23. Retrieved 2023-10-09.

[:1-6] 1 2 Marek, Grant (2025-11-20). "The night ESPN watched two college mascots try to kill each other". SFGate .

[7] "Payton Linked To Grizzly Event -- Cal Mascot Gets Benched For Cake Toss | The Seattle Times". archive.seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2023-10-09.

[8] Levi Holtz, Debra (1999-11-06). "Students Call for Cal Mascot Makeover / Student measure wants..." San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-10-09.

[9] Curtis, Jake. "Top 50 Cal Sports Moments -- No. 26: Oski-Tree Fights, 1988, 1995". Sports Illustrated. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 23 May 2025.

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v t e California Golden Bears
Teams	Baseball Basketball Men's Women's Football Gymnastics (Women's) Rugby Soccer Men's Women's Softball Track and Field Volleyball (Women's)
Venues	California Memorial Stadium Haas Pavilion Evans Diamond Levine-Fricke Field Edwards Stadium
Symbols/Lore	The Big "C" Oski The Bench The Stanford Axe Big Game The Play Tightwad Hill Calgorithm
Songs	Fight for California Big C Sons of California All Hail Blue and Gold Hail to California Stanford Jonah California Indian Song California Drinking Song

v t e California Golden Bears football
Venues	California Field (1904–1923) California Memorial Stadium (1923–2010, 2012–present) Oracle Park (2011)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Stanford: Big Game (Stanford Axe) UCLA USC
Culture & lore	Oski "Fight for California" "Big C" History Marching band Tightwad Hill The Play
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

v t e California Golden Bears men's basketball
Venues	Original Harmon Gym (1907–1933) Oakland Civic Auditorium (alternate, 1914–1933) Oakland Coliseum-Arena (1997–1999) Haas Pavilion (1933–1997, 1999–present)
Culture & lore	The Bench Oski "Fight for California" "Big C"
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Premo-Poretta national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championship in bolded italics

v t e California Golden Bears women's basketball
Venues	Oakland Arena (1997–1999) Haas Pavilion (1973–1997, 1999–present)
Culture & lore	History Oski "Fight for California "Big C"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

Oski the Bear

Contents

Incidents

References

External links