Knox College’s first ever mascot will be a fox.
Prairie Fire will still be kept as the official name of the school’s athletic teams but a fox will be what fans can expect to see cheering on Knox sports teams.
The announcement was made prior to the “pumphandle” event that traditionally kicks off the school year.
President Teresa Amott prior to revealing the mascot talked about how they wanted a symbol of school spirit but it’s difficult for a fire to get the crowd revved up.
“I love that our team’s are called the Prairie Fire, because it’s a unique name and it captures the energy of Knox,” Amott told onlookers. “But, it is very hard to relate to a Prairie Fire. You can’t tame it, you can’t have it follow you around, you can’t shake hands with it, you can’t really like it.”
Students immediately after pumphandle through Thursday can vote on a name for the fox.
The next round of voting will be a choice of the top three names who were suggested most often.
Then at Homecoming on Oct. 14 the name will be revealed at the same time the manifestation of the costumed Knox fox will be shown to the public for the first time.