The Saint Peter's Peacocks are the sixteen intercollegiate athletic teams that represent

Saint Peter's University Saint Peter's University is a private Jesuit university in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. Founded as Saint Peter's College in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, the university offers over 60 undergraduate and graduate programs to more than ...

, located in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

. The Peacocks compete in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

and are founding members of the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Its current 13 full members are located in five Northeastern states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachuse ...

(MAAC). They previously competed in the

Metropolitan Collegiate Conference The Metropolitan Collegiate Conference (MCC) was a college athletic conference that existed from 1965 until 1969. The participating schools were exclusively from New York and New Jersey. The 10 founding members of the conference in 1965 were: Man ...

(MCC) from 1965 to 1969.

Nickname and mascot history

From 1918 to 1930, the then College, closed due to the impact of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and because Jesuit superiors wanted to concentrate their manpower in other colleges on the East Coast. As noted in the college yearbook, “The classrooms went empty. The faculty closed their markbooks, and left for the battlefields.” In 1930, with Rev. Robert I. Gannon, S.J., as Dean, Saint Peter's re-opened on the fourth floor of the Chamber of Commerce Building in

Downtown Jersey City Downtown is an area of Jersey City, New Jersey, which includes the Historic Downtown and the Waterfront. Historic Downtown Historic Downtown was an area of mostly low-rise buildings to the west of the waterfront, but by the 2000s a number of ...

, and women were admitted to the Evening Session for the first time. With the rebirth of Saint Peter's in 1930, Rev. Gannon named the

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

the official mascot of the college, reflecting the spirit of “resurrection and eternal life.” The peacock also ties Saint Peter's to the settling of Jersey City, originally called “ Pavonia,” or “Land of the Peacock”. The Saint Peter's University

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

is Peter the Peacock. The updated mascot was introduced on April 20, 2016, on the first annual Peacock Pride Day to celebrate the legacy and birthday of the late Dean, Rev. Gannon, S.J. and “Founding Father” of the peacock being chosen as a symbol of Saint Peter's.

Teams

A member of the

(MAAC), Saint Peter's sponsors teams in eight men's and eight women's NCAA sanctioned sports:

Discontinued teams

Football

The Peacocks football program ran from 1971 to 2006.

Tennis

The Peacocks men's and women's tennis team were discontinued in 2018.

Women's bowling

The Peacocks women's bowling team was discontinued following the 2017–18 season.

Facilities

The Peacocks play at two main athletic facilities. Joseph J. Jaroschak Field in nearby Lincoln Park, is home to the baseball, softball, and men's and women's soccer teams. The Victor R. Yanitelli, S.J. Recreational Life Center is located on campus and is home to the swimming and diving teams with the volleyball and men's and women's basketball teams playing their home games in Run Baby Run Arena. The Yanitelli Center is also home to a number of club and

intramural Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, for the purpose of fun and exercise. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' m ...

teams. Prior to the opening of the Yanitelli Center on campus in 1975, Saint Peter's used the nearby

Jersey City Armory The Jersey City Armory is an armory for the U.S. Army National Guard at 678 Montgomery Street in the McGinley Square neighborhood in Jersey City, New Jersey. Completed in 1937, the armory was designed by chief architect General Hugh A. Kelly of ...

as the home arena for its men's and women's basketball teams and still occasionally use the venue for high-profile games.

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle={{CollegePrimaryStyle, Saint Peter's Peacocks, color=white , list = {{Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference navbox {{New Jersey College Sports {{NewJerseysports {{NewYorksports Saint Peter's Peacocks Saint Peter's University