Buffalo Central Terminal » MAKE UB MASCOT BIG AND BOLD GREAT IDEA: BUILD A BUFFALO THAT’S HARD TO FORGET 7/30/1995

MAKE UB MASCOT BIG AND BOLD GREAT IDEA: BUILD A BUFFALO THAT’S HARD TO FORGET 7/30/1995

Last modified: May 30, 2007 @ 7:37 pm by Sara Etten

MAKE UB MASCOT BIG AND BOLD GREAT IDEA: BUILD A BUFFALO THAT’S HARD TO FORGET
July 30, 1995

UNIVERSITIES ARE supposed to be a home for creative ideas. It’s appropriate, then, that Ron Stein, once an undergraduate and now vice president for advancement and development at the University at Buffalo, has just come up with a good one.

He hasn’t formulated a new mathematical theory. Or devised a more nutritious diet for the Third World. Or discovered the true identify of the Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

But his contribution is perfectly targeted for a young university still searching for a unifying identity and traditions.

UB needs a symbol, a mascot, Stein says, and it ought to be a brass or bronze buffalo.

Why not? What better symbol for the big University at Buffalo campus, the largest in the State University of New York, than a buffalo? It blends place and image, town and gown, traditional and new. And it’s hard to forget.

A UB buffalo, sculpted brassy, bold and massive, would flash an instant identity. College isn’t only books and beer, professors and laboratories. It’s also a place of the heart, and often the first one away from home — a place for powerful experiences and friendships.

This kind of thinking can be easy to ridicule. But strong symbols unify and rally bum themselves into the emotions of our lives. Stein conveyed the idea neatly with his statement that UB ought to have a buffalo mascot that “students can take their parents to for pictures, can propose to one another in front of, can touch the nose of for good luck — and curse at if the buffalo doesn’t come through.”

If Penn State and its graduates value the Nittany Lion and UCLA prizes its 10-foot bruin, the sprawling and divided University at Buffalo campus can surely benefit from a buffalo.

The power of the buffalo symbol is familiar enough. Even today, thousands of Western New Yorkers fondly recall the long-gone statue of a majestic buffalo that greeted travelers at the Central Railroad Terminal. Whenever the building is mentioned, memories of that statue top the list of nostalgic reminiscences.

At UB, even the process of developing the mascot could stir fun and excitement. There might be competition among prominent artists for the commission to sculpt the buffalo. Or a referendum of students and alumni over a few selected choices of where to locate it.

This is a timely idea — and best of all, it’s fun. It can be significant to UB’s evolving identity and to building

identification of students and alumni with their campus.

If UB follows through, it only needs to remember to do the thing right. Make the symbol bold, make it massive, make it memorable.

Caption:
Buffalo at the Central Terminal: the sort of symbol that people remember.