Oh Cougie, where art thou?
CCCʼs beloved mascot is elusive, hereʼs why
Have you ever wondered about Clackamas Community College’s mascot?
Cougie is the name of our Cougar mascot here at CCC, but his story seems to be unknown. Mascots are important for school spirit and student engagement, so why is Cougie not so involved?
Michelle Baker, the student life and leadership coordinator at CCC, said there is no designated Cougie performer, and Cougie only comes out when requested or when students or staff check out the mascot costume from her office.
The current Cougie costume has been around since at least 2019, and has only been checked out five times, and there has never been a designated Cougie person.
Baker also shared the responsibilities that come from being Cougie. Those duties include:
- No talking while in character.
- A handler must be with Cougie at all times to help navigate.
- While as Cougie, you cannot take off the head or any other piece of the costume in public.
- You must hang up Cougie to allow the costume to air out after use.
The biggest concern out of all of these rules, is the last one: “Do not store in a plastic bag or bin.”
When The Clackamas Print began researching Cougie, Cougie was found in a cardboard box in the student clubs office.
When you think of a sports game; you probably think of fans, snacks, posters and mascots. Mascots are known at sports games to keep the crowd engaged, the players scoring, and bring energy to the venue, but if you’ve attended any recent sporting events, you likely haven’t seen Cougie.
Women’s basketball player and track and field athlete, Grace Brooks, believes Cougie should be at sporting events on campus.
“I think Cougie would add the next level of support for athletics here at CCC,” Brooks said. “It would definitely help hype up the crowd, especially the little student section we are starting to build.”
Daisy Saucedo has been a student at CCC since 2018. When asked about Cougie, Saucedo did not know anything about him. Saucedo has never seen Cougie in person in her five years at CCC.
“Something I like about other schools is that their mascot brings energy,” Saucedo said, “and I feel like there are weeks, like this week, when a lot of people are having midterms and everyone is stressed out that it would be nice to see him around.”
Since the pandemic, CCC has been working on coming back and getting students more excited and motivated when it comes to school.
Cougie could make a huge impact on students around campus who may just need a little more energy to get through whatever they are working on.
Sports at CCC have less fan support since the pandemic, and Cougie would bring the energy and keep students engaged with sports. Cougie is an important part of this school and our community, and he deserves to be well known.
