Marco the Buffalo
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Marco the Bison is the official costumed mascot of
Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...
in
Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...
. He is an American Bison dressed in the home uniform of the school. Marco's name developed from a mix of the university's name at the time, Marshall College. Marshall became a University in 1961, but the name for Marco stuck.


Origin

Marshall's early sports teams were called Indians or "Normalists," as Marshall was a normal school, a two-year degree that qualified the degree holder to teach secondary school. When the team changed colors from black and blue to green and white in 1903 the team went by "Big Green" for a number of years. Marshall's student body first got a bison in the 1930s, when an animal from the famous Marland 101 Ranch in Oklahoma was procured. The animal went along with the nickname then The Herald-Dispatch's sports editor started using for the team in 1928. Duke Ridgley was a fan of
Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...
's novel, "The Thundering Herd," and the silent movie that came out not long after the book was released in 1925. Bison had indeed roamed the Ohio Valley near Huntington, WV at one time. While the student newspaper suggested "Judges" to honor the college's namesake, Chief Justice John Marshall, and the evening newspaper, The Huntington Advertiser, wanted "Boogiecats" or "Boogercats" to replace the name, "Big Green." It was a cat found in Scotland called a Boogie Cat, or mountain lion in the U.S. Ridgley won out in the end and "Thundering Herd" became one of the most distinctive nicknames in sports, but there would be other challengers through the years. The Big Green vs. Marco controversy was on-going, however. In 1958, the student body voted on three possibilities: Thundering Herd, Big Green and Green Gobblers. Big Green won, but many still referred to the team as the Herd. In 1964, Dr. Stewart Smith, President of Marshall University, gave student, faculty, alumni and others a chance to vote on three again: Thundering Herd, Big Green and the Rams, with Sam the Ram suggested by a former President of the MU Alumni Association, Leonard Samworth. On January 5, 1965, over 85 percent of the voters went with Thundering Herd. Big Green was given to the scholarship foundation for athletics and is still used for that purpose. Sam the Ram went away forever, along with Green Gobblers, Boogercats, Indians and Judges. Marshall's mascot Marco has made a lot of history and had many different looks since he was first put into costume in 1954. He started off as a four-legged, rugged looking bison of paper mache' in the 1930s in a homecoming parade skit, then progressed to Marco in a full football uniform, in furry full costume, adding a vest in the 1980s and then to how we know him now. Marco has not always been the only mascot used at Marshall. During football seasons in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Marshall used two mascots: Marco, and another real bison, purchased by one of the doctors who died on the Marshall Football plane crash of November 14, 1970, killing all 75 persons aboard including most of the football team and coaches. The two made regular appearances at football game: in fact, the real Marco got loose on the Astroturf in 1971 and delayed a second-half kickoff until he was returned to his cage. The real bison was retired to nearby Camden Park, a nearby amusement park which had a petting zoo in the 1970s and where he stayed when not at Fairfield Stadium for games. Marshall also had "Marsha," a female mascot in the wake of the
women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...
of the 1970s who was created in 1973 but only through the end of the 1970s. There was even a "Buffy," a green-furred bison with the distinctive Marshall "beanie" who was added for a single year by the women's basketball program in 1979-80, along with a walking basketball with big eyes called "Bouncy." They both disappeared soon after the end of that season. Marco was nationally recognized when he won the National Mascot Championship award in 1992, beating "Big Red" from Western Kentucky among others.


Criticism

The university's beloved mascot underwent a makeover in 2008, thanks to a fundraising effort in the fall headed by the Marshall University Alumni Association in conjunction with the MU Athletic Department. His new costume was crafted by Dale Morton Studios in
Hurricane, West Virginia Hurricane is a city in Putnam County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 6,977 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area. History Hurricane was named after Hurricane Creek, which was, in turn, ...
. He was revealed prior to the Marshall homecoming game on November 15, 2008 against the
UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Division I F ...
. When the smoke cleared from the tunnel, fans saw a mascot with smaller feet, track pants, muscles and a face bearing an enormous nose, long nails on the fingers (supposed to look like hooves on the rare time the mascot held his fingers together and down towards the ground) and glaring eyes. Since then, feedback on the Internet has been overwhelmingly negative. Of the 389 people who had responded to
The Herald-Dispatch ''The Herald-Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper that serves Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently owned by HD Media Co. LLC. History ''The Herald-Dispatch'' was founded in 190 ...
's unscientific online poll question of whether they liked the new look, 81 percent said no. And more than 2,300 people had joined a
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group called "Bring Back Classic Marco!" In 2013 yet another makeover was performed and Marco received a new suit similar to the one used prior to 2008.


Other institutions with a bison/buffalo mascot

* Bethany College *
Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...
*
University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...
, called "Ralphie" who runs on the field before the team *
Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...
*
Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
, the Buffalo Soldiers in the 1990s, after a famous African-American fighting unit *
Lipscomb University Lipscomb University is a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, between Belmont Boulevard to the west and Granny White Pike on ...
*
Harding University Harding University is a private university with its main campus in Searcy, Arkansas. It is the largest private university in Arkansas. Established in 1924, the institution offers undergraduate, graduate, and pre-professional programs. The uni ...
*
Nichols College Nichols College is a private business college in Dudley, Massachusetts. Founded in 1815 as Nichols Academy, Nichols College offers both bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as certificate programs. History Nichols Academy The instituti ...
*
North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...
*
Oklahoma Baptist University Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) is a private Baptist university in Shawnee, Oklahoma. It was established in 1910 under the original name of The Baptist University of Oklahoma. OBU is owned and was founded by the Baptist General Convention of O ...
*
Southwestern Law School Southwestern Law School is a private law school in Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and enrolls nearly 1,000 students. Its campus includes the Bullocks Wilshire building, an art deco National Register ...
*
University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on Se ...


See also

*
List of U.S. college mascots __NOTOC__ This is an incomplete list of U.S. college mascots' names, consisting of named incarnations of live, costumed, or inflatable mascots. For team names, see List of college sports team nicknames. Mascot index 0–9 * #1 Fan – child- ...


References

{{Sun Belt Conference mascot navbox Marshall Thundering Herd Sun Belt Conference mascots