Homecoming
Nebraska fans fight to keep Herbie Husker mascot
How important is image to collegiate sports?
HERBIE HUSKER, THE UNIVERSITY OF Nebraska mascot, could be history if the Nebraska athletic department gets its way.
The controversy started in August, when Bill Byrne, athletic director at Nebraska, decided that the overall-clad farmer was not good for the state's image.
But the real reason may have been marketing. Byrne said many Nebraska fans surveyed had expressed their dislike for both the mascot and its name. Market studies showed that the 24-and-under age group did not buy Herbie paraphernalia and that the Herbie image did not sell well outside the state.
Byrne said the athletic department thought a strong and aggressive team needed a new image consistent with Nebraska's national championship.
Chris Anderson, director of sports information at Nebraska, agreed.
"The problem is that Herbie projects an unwanted image of Nebraska teams and Nebraska residents in general," Anderson said in an interview with The Denver Post. "If they're going to have a farmer, they want him to be more strapping, more intimidating."
University officials had planned to ban Herbie from Memorial Stadium and to use him only for events such as making appearances at elementary schools and non-revenue games. Officials had hoped to
have a new mascot by 1996.
But Nebraska fans faithful to Herbie rebelled and organized
petition drives. In one drive, they gathered more than 1,000 signatures supporting Herbie's reinstatement.
But supporters of changing the mascot said that Herbie stereotyped the farm state because not all farmers wore overalls and had corn sticking out of their pockets.
Officials agreed to keep the mascot but decided to eliminate the corn from printed materials and logos.
tried to drop Herbie," said John Scheve, Beatrice, Neb., senior and student senator. "It hasn't bred a lot of debate."
"Dropping the 'corn' from Cornhusker hasn't been as controversial as when they
But Herbie is not safe yet. "At any time right now, they could withdraw Herbie," Scheve said.
Herbie fans at Nebraska have organized another petition for the Nebraska Board of Regents, which is the only institution that can overrule the athletic department.
The Omaha World-Herald had asked for new mascot suggestions.
New mascot proposals included "Reks-uhn-Roc" (Cornhuskers spelled backward), a John Deere tractor and a "Shuckin' Wagon" were candidates for mascots.
However, readers mostly suggested imaginary and real animals, including a dragon, a unicornhusker, "Reddy Raccoon," an anteater, a big red shark, a black crow in a red jersey, a man-eating cow, a farm dog and a horse.
Other readers wrote that the mascot only needed a make over. They said that to appear slimmer, Herbie could wear jeans and a tank-top instead of overalls.
Although changing Nebraska's mascot would be breaking with tradition, the
Cornhusker is not as rooted in tradition as KU's Jayhawk. Herbie Husker appeared for the first time in 1974 after Nebraska went to the Cotton Bowl. After artist Dirk West designed the Nebraska cartoon, Nebraska's director of sports information asked whether Nebraska could use it as the official mascot.
At Iowa State University, another Big-Eight school and KU's homecoming opponent, the only proposal to change the university mascot, the Cyclone, occurred in
1985. That fall, pranksters identifying themselves as terrorists from the Mascot Liberation Organization kidnapped Cy.
The pranksters had called the Iowa State
Daily and asked its editor to print their demands, which included creating a new mascot. They suggested replacing the Cyclone with the Michelin tire man or renaming the Iowa State teams the Red Chickens.
Thinking it was a joke, the editor refused to comply. The next day, he found on his front lawn the mutilated costume worn by the Iowa State University mascot.
—BY HENRI BLANC
Now there is no reason to shop anywhere else...
-Hill • October 11, 1995
Homecoming
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