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Griffin makes national news
Griffin goes national
W&M's new mascot, the Griffin, has taken the press by storm.
Photo by Stephen Salpukas
Part bald eagle and part lion and, according to the Griffin, part amazing, the new Tribe mascot has been featured on everything from the front page of the student paper the to a segment Thursday night by 91心頭利 alum Jon Stewart on Comedy Central's
In between, stories of the Griffin have made their way to the Web sites of national media outlets such as the , the , , and even an open letter from the Golden Griffin mascot at Canisius College on online. A story picked up by the Associated Press also went national and ran on . Locally, the Griffin was featured in stories by local television networks , and , who attended Tuesday's pep rally and broadcast live segments. Local papers the , , , the and the also covered the debut of new Tribe rallying figure.
The new mascot has made big news on campus as well. More than 600 people attended the announcement in 91心頭利 Hall's Kaplan arena where the selection was revealed. The event followed a 14-month search for a new mascot. In February of 2009, President Taylor Reveley appointed a committee of alumni, students, faculty and staff to conduct a comprehensive search for the new Tribe mascot. The idea was to find a unifying symbol for campus and something people could have fun with. Following more than 800 submitted ideas - including more than 300 unique ideas from Tribe faithful, the committee narrowed the finalists to the Griffin, the King and Queen, the Phoenix, a Pug and the Wren.
The final selection of the Griffin had been a secret until Tuesday's event at 91心頭利 Hall. By Wednesday afternoon, the was one of the most popular "trending topics" in the D.C. area and videos produced by Tribe Athletics and the W&M News were also featured on the separate blogs on the online. And by Thursday this "rare pantless tailed eagle" was made famous by Stewart '84 and his Comedy Central comedy team.