Benny Beaver

Benny Beaver
Benny (Patrick H.) with former Oregon State Marching Band director Brad Townsend
University	Oregon State University
Conference	Pac-12
Description	Beaver: Aquatic mammal
Origin of name	Abundance in territory
First seen	1942
Related mascot(s)	Bernice Beaver

Benny Beaver is the official mascot of Oregon State University and winner of the 2011 Capital One Mascot of the Year write-in campaign. The exact date of when the name was first used as the university's mascot is not known, but photographs in the school's yearbook document its use as early as the 1940s.

Mascot history

The university's school newspaper is the first known organization on campus to adopt the beaver as its namesake and did so as early as 1908.^[1] The school yearbook's long use of the name, known as "The Beaver" starting in 1916, eventually helped solidify the beaver as the university's official mascot.^[2] The popularity of the beaver was also shared by students at University of Oregon. For several early publishings, students at this school also used "The Beaver" as their yearbook's title.^[2]

Oregon State University's first documented use of "Benny Beaver" was found in a photograph showing students posing next to a statue of a beaver inscribed with the name "Benny Beaver." The photograph appears in the 1942 edition of the yearbook.^[3]

BASKETBALL ATTIRE: Benny Beaver at a home game in Gill Coliseum.

Prior to the beaver, Oregon State's mascot was an individual known as John Richard Newton Bell (1893–1928). A longtime member of the university's board of regents, Bell became hugely popular among the students for his ritual of marching to the Marys River after each of Oregon State's Civil War victories. He was said to have tossed his top hat into the water as a token of celebration. Earlier mascots include "Jimmie" the Coyote (1892–1893) and "Bulldog" (1906–1910, unofficial and for specific teams only, such as the Wrestling squad). The beaver mascot's name, "Benny," was officially adopted in 1945. Two failed attempts to maintain a live beaver mascot include Bevo Beaver (rescued from Mary's River in 1921 and later stolen^[4] ) and Billy Beaver (made mascot in 1935, and later fell ill and died).

1998 redesign of "smiling" Benny Beaver logo (original logo 1951-1998)

The early Benny Beaver "cartoon" icon/logo was created by famous graphic illustrator, and former Disney employee, Arthur C. Evans. As the art director for Angelus Pacific Company,^[2] Evans submitted his design to OSU and it was approved for use in 1951. His logos were used at hundreds of other universities and high schools throughout the nation. Evans' beaver logo also appeared in the 1985 movie "Teen Wolf."

A beaver statue was carted around the stadium and in parades in the 1940s, patterned after an earlier bronze statue, went by the name "Benny." The 1941 yearbook shows the statue with the caption "Bill Beaver" while a 1942 yearbook photo of the same beaver statue gives it the name "Benny Beaver". After the statue's demise, the name stuck with "The Gnawed Log," a sports column in the student newspaper the Daily Barometer.

The first live appearance during an athletic event by a mascot named "Benny", was September 18, 1952 and performed by Ken Austin.^[5] Austin later founded Newberg, Oregon-based A-dec, the largest privately held dental equipment manufacturer in North America. Austin is now a major Oregon State donor.^[6]

Between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, Benny was often joined at sporting events by a co-mascot, known as "Bernice Beaver."

In 1998 No Dinx, a graphic design shop in Albany, Oregon, redesigned the logo for the first time in nearly 50 years (shown below).

Used from 1998-2013.

1998 Season - Pregame outside Reser Stadium (Vince Ewert as Benny Beaver)

In March 2013, working together with Nike, Oregon State University unveiled the latest, newly redesigned version, of the Benny Beaver logo. The new logo replaced the No Dinx design.^[7] The Benny Beaver costume also changed to match the new logo in 2001. Benny wears #0 at football games and #0 at basketball games. Past numbers have included #100 (football) and #6 (basketball).

In December 2010, Benny Beaver was ranked 13th on a list titled 20 Worst Behaved Mascots Of All Time.^[8] Despite the bad press, Benny Beaver won the 2011 Capital One Mascot of the Year write-in campaign, earning the mascot program $1000 and inclusion in the following year's Capital One All-America Mascot Team.^[9]

Other universities and colleges with a beaver mascot

Babson College -Wellesley, Massachusetts
Bemidji State University -Bemidji, Minnesota
Blackburn College -Carlinville, Illinois
Bluffton College -Bluffton, Ohio
Buena Vista University -Storm Lake, Iowa
California Institute of Technology (Caltec) -Pasadena, California
Champlain College -Burlington, Vermont
City College of New York -New York, New York
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) -Cambridge, Massachusetts
Minot State University -Minot, North Dakota
University of Maine at Farmington -Farmington, Maine
University of Toronto -Toronto, Ontario, Canada

References

↑ "Willamatte Lost to O.A.C. 28-0". The O.A.C. Barometer.
1 2 3 "OSU Libraries - Chronological History". Oregon State University Library. 2004. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
↑ "OSU Sports History Minute - February 16, 2001". Oregon State University Beaver E-Clips. 2001. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
↑ "Real, live beaver may become Aggie mascot". Barometer. April 22, 1921.
↑ "A History of Athletic Mascots at Oregon State University". Oregon State University OSU Alumni Association. 2001. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
↑ Edmondston, George P. "Building a Better Mousetrap". OSU Alumni Association. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
↑ "Benny Beaver (Interim)". Beaver Yearbook Collection. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
↑ "20 Worst Behaved Mascots Of All Time: No. 13 Benny Beaver of Oregon State". Bleacher Report. 2010-12-19. Retrieved 2011-01-03.
↑ "Oregon State’s "Benny The Beaver" wins write-in campaign and shot at next year’s title". BusinessWire. 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2011-01-03.

Oregon State University

Schools	College of Agricultural Sciences College of Business College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences College of Education College of Engineering College of Forestry College of Liberal Arts College of Pharmacy College of Public Health and Human Sciences College of Science College of Veterinary Medicine Graduate School Honors College

Athletics	Oregon State Beavers Baseball team Men's Basketball team Wrestling team Football team Men's Soccer team Benny Beaver Civil War (football game) Current football season List of bowl games

Buildings and Facilities	Austin Hall Benton Hall Cascades Campus Dixon Recreation Center Dryden Hall Gill Coliseum Goss Stadium at Coleman Field Hatfield Marine Science Center Linus Pauling Institute Merryfield Hall Memorial Union Oregon State University Press OSU Softball Complex Owen Hall Peavy Arboretum Peavy Hall Pharmacy Building Radiation Center Reser Stadium The LaSells Stewart Center The Valley Library Waldo Hall

Culture	Alumni Athletes Faculty and staff Civil War (general rivalry) "Hail to Old OSU" KBVR (FM) The Daily Barometer Open Source Lab History KBVR TV

Other	Biscuit Fire publication controversy Martin Kukučín (sculpture) Ode to a Tree The Quest

Oregon State Beavers football

Venues	Bell Field (1909–1952) Reser Stadium (1953–present) Multnomah Stadium (alternate)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Oregon: Civil War (Platypus Trophy)

Culture & lore	History Benny Beaver "Hail to Old OSU" Marching band Pyramid Play "The Toilet Bowl" 1985 Washington game

People	Head coaches Notable players NFL draftees

Seasons	1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Oregon State Beavers men's basketball

Venues	Men's Gymnasium (1915–1949) Gill Coliseum (1949–present)

Rivalries	Oregon (series)

Culture & lore	Benny Beaver "Hail to Old OSU"

People	Head coaches Notable players

Seasons	1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Oregon State Beavers women's basketball

Venues	Gill Coliseum (1976–present)

Culture & lore	Benny Beaver "Hail to Old OSU"

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

Mascots of the Pac-12 Conference

Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat (Arizona)
Sparky the Sun Devil (Arizona State)
Oski (California)
Ralphie the Buffalo / Chip (Colorado)
The Oregon Duck (Oregon)
Benny Beaver (Oregon State)
Stanford Tree (Stanford) (*unofficial)
Joe and Josephine Bruin (UCLA)
Traveler (Southern California)
Swoop (Utah)
Dubs I and Harry the Husky (Washington)
Butch T. Cougar (Washington State)

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