Just happened across this article.... it has some interesting info on the history of the logo and colors, even if you don't agree with the author's sentiments.....
<a href='http://www.ksusentinel.com/news/2005/04/06/Sports/scrap.ScrappyIts.Time.For.A.New.Mascot-914546.shtml' target='_blank'>http://www.ksusentinel.com/news/2005/04/06...ot-914546.shtml</a>
KSU has been going through extreme changes over the past couple of years. The school population has topped 18,000, on-campus dorms have been erected, three parking decks are open, a new 4700-seat Convocation Center is finished and KSU athletics are joining the Atlantic Sun in Division I. It might be the perfect time to change another aspect of the school: the mascot.
Owls are used to symbolize wisdom and intuition. They can be scary and are great hunters, but honestly, there is nothing exciting about having an owl as a mascot. [Sorry Scrappy]. At basketball games the students call out, "Hootie hoo," which is not very threatening compared to a savage bark of a Bulldog or the menacing buzz of a Yellow Jacket, although the enthusiasm is encouraging.
In 1982, when then Kennesaw State College, began intercollegiate athletics, they needed a mascot. According to the Owls' media guide, the cat with wings was chosen due to "the tenacity of the raptor and the wit and intelligence that is associated with the bird. The combination of intelligence and tenacity is one which the university proudly identifies with." The reasoning sounds good, but can the university stress intelligence and tenacity while having a cool mascot?
When KSU chose the Owl as a mascot, it also adopted school colors from Georgia Tech [gold] and UGA [black]. Maybe it should have adopted a combination of their mascots as well. How about the KSU "Yellow Dogs" or "Bull Jackets?" Okay, maybe a bad idea, but KSU does need a new mascot, and not just because owls lack the fierceness a mascot should posses.
Starting in the fall of 2005, KSU sports programs will be competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference in Division I. The problem is, there happens to be a school with an Owl as a mascot already in the conference. The Florida Atlantic Owls have been around since 1971 and joined the A-Sun in 1993. Florida Atlantic actually has a reason to have an owl as its mascot. The campus was built on a wildlife sanctuary that was and still is home to the feisty Burrowing Owl. FAU realized how unparalyzing owls are, so it added the word "fighting" in front of it, just as KSU did. There cannot be two Fighting Owls in the same conference.
If KSU wants to keep tradition and locality in the name of the mascot, why not go with KSU Mountaineers. The campus is in the shadow of historic Kennesaw Mountain.
How about honor the military and take the name of the new F-22 fighter jet as a mascot? It is built by Lockheed and flown out of Dobbins. The teams would be known as the KSU Raptors.
The area of Kennesaw is home to The Southern Museum of Locomotives and Civil War History, which houses the locomotive, The General. A locomotive which was involved in a famous chase during the Civil War. On April 12, 1862, James J. Andrews and his clan of Union spies, known as "Andrews' Raiders" stole The General out from under the noses of Confederate guards. The KSU Generals has a nice ring to it, or maybe the KSU Raiders.
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Scrap Scrappy - It's time for a new mascot
