A Bernard by Any Other Name

When the announcement came in January that North Georgia College and State University and Gainesville State College were combining, faculty, students and grads all were concerned about what would happen to school programs, curriculum, and staffing.

Few people, at that time, thought about the fate of the Fighting Geese and the Saint Bernard. (The aggressive birds and the reverent canine are the mascots for Gainesville College and NGCSU, respectively.)

The joining of the two schools meant either one of the mascots would be killed off or, worse yet, both would have to disappear to make way for a new mascot for the soon-to-be University of North Georgia?

Gainesville's Fighting Geese  Laker

What should the newly formed university do? Keep the Saints or the Geese? Or perhaps combine the two, i.e. the Fighting Bernards, the Saintly Geese, the Fighting Saints, or maybe even Bernie the Goose.

The NGCSU Saint

A Name that Mascot committee pondered the dilemma and came up with three possible mascot contenders: Golden Eagles, Nighthawks and Warriors.

Then, the students, faculty, staff and others were asked to vote for one of the three. Votes are in and tallied...and  the winner is the Nighthawks.

The reviews for the new mascot are mixed."Not tough enough for me...nighthawks just fly around eating insects," said one student in a Gainesville Times interview. Another declared, "I LOVE IT....NOBODY else has this mascot anywhere near us!"

To be honest, we think we know why no other schools in the area are Nighthawks. It's a weird selection. Maybe the Fighting Saints would have been better. Oh well, the election is over. Can't wait to see the Nighthawk mascot parading around at a UNG basketball game!