Otto the Orange is the mascot for the
Syracuse Orange
The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference.
The school's mascot is ...
, the athletic teams of
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
,
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. Otto is an
anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
of the
citrus fruit
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to So ...
, wearing a large blue hat and blue pants. Otto can often be seen at Syracuse sporting events in the
JMA Wireless Dome
The JMA Wireless Dome, originally the Carrier Dome (1980–2022) and colloquially called "The Dome," or more recently "The JMA Dome," is a domed sports stadium in Syracuse, New York. Located on the campus of Syracuse University in the University ...
and other venues.
Mascot history
Saltine Warrior
The Syracuse mascot was originally a
Native American character named "The Saltine Warrior" (Syracuse's unofficial nickname is the Salt City) and "Big Chief Bill Orange".
The character was born out of a
hoax
A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...
in which it was claimed that a 16th-century
Onondaga Onondaga may refer to:
Native American/First Nations
* Onondaga people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois League
* Onondaga (village), Onondaga settlement and traditional Iroquois capita ...
chief was unearthed while digging the foundation for the women's gymnasium in 1928.
In the mid-1950s, the father of a
Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha (), commonly known as Lambda Chi, is a college fraternity in North America which was founded at Boston University in 1909. It is one of the largest social fraternities in North America, with more than 300,000 lifetime members a ...
fraternity brother owned a cheerleading camp. He made a Saltine Warrior costume for his son to wear at SU football games. Thus began a nearly forty-year tradition of Lambda Chi brothers serving as SU's mascot. In 1990 however the University opened up the mascot traditions to the entire student body (Daily Orange, February 22, 1990).
![Otto the Orange 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Otto_the_Orange_2013.jpg)
In December 1977, Native American students successfully petitioned the University to discontinue the Saltine Warrior, citing the mascot's stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans. The mascot was discontinued in 1978.
During the 1978 season, the University introduced a Roman
gladiator
A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...
dressed in orange armor, but the idea proved largely unpopular among fans, who regularly booed the mascot.
Otto becomes official
In the 1980s, a new Syracuse University mascot emerged and was described as a "juiced-up, bumbling citrus fruit from which two legs protrude", and quickly became popular on campus.
Then, the mascot was simply known as ''"the Orange"''.
In the summer of 1990, the cheerleaders and mascots were at Cheerleading Camp in Tennessee and the students who were chosen to suit up in the costume narrowed the field down to two potential names — "Opie" and "Otto" — as a new orange costume was made. It was concluded that the name "Opie" would lead to the inevitable rhyme with 'dopey', and settled on "Otto." Later that fall, word got out that the cheerleaders were calling the latest mascot costume Otto, and the name stuck.
For 17 years the university did not settle on an "official" mascot until the chancellor appointed a group of students and faculty to create a mascot and logo. University administration considered introducing a new mascot (a wolf or lion were likely candidates), but the student body supported Otto. He was recognized as the official mascot of Syracuse University in December 1995 by Chancellor
Buzz Shaw.
In 2016, Otto was named in the top-10 mascots in college football by ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
''.
Mascot team
There are a team of performers that dress as Otto; this team contains a mix of personalities and genders. Similar body builds are required so not one Otto stands out; performers need to be the desired height of 5 feet and 10 inches. Stunts, dances, gestures and general movement are all practiced and routinized. The Ottos take turns attending events. Otto will never be in two places at once, preserving the magic of the mascot; if there are two sporting events happening at the same time, Otto's appearances will be split between the two events.
Social media
In general, most of Otto’s social media activity happens through pictures and videos. Additionally, he frequently retweets or shares other University pages in order to promote sports games, events such as the career fair, and instilling pride in SU fans. In 2006,
video of a fight between Otto the Orange and the Hokiebirdwas spread, with many speculating that the fight was the result of pent up anger between the two actors portraying the characters. It was not until 2019 that the person who portrayed Otto at the time confirmed that this was a simulated fight.
References
{{Navboxes
, titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Syracuse Orange, color=white
, list =
{{Syracuse Orange football navbox
{{Syracuse Orange men's basketball navbox
{{Syracuse Orange men's soccer navbox
{{Atlantic Coast Conference mascot navbox
Atlantic Coast Conference mascots
Syracuse Orange