For over 40 years, IU has been without an official mascot to rally students and fans and serve as a specific emblem of the student body. IU students are known as Hoosiers and are represented by the iconic IU trident. However, many believe that the effect of this branding is not the same as other universities who have tangible mascots, like Purdue’s Purdue Pete, Michigan State’s Sparty and Wisconsin’s Bucky Badger.
Throughout the years that IU has remained mascot-less, students, faculty and fans have consistently advocated for a return of the bison mascot that was first introduced in 1965 and retired in 1969.
On Dec. 9, IU Student Government posted a poll to its Instagram story asking its almost 3,000 followers, “Do you think we should bring the Bison back as the Indiana University Bloomington mascot?” 72% of respondents voted yes.
On Monday, IUSG voted in favor of the bill, the “Bring Back the Bison Act of 2024,” to reinstate the bison mascot as IU’s official mascot.
The bill states that doing so would help in “strengthening the sense of pride and unity amongst students and supporters of the university.” With its passing, IUSG student body president Cooper Tinsley will work alongside IU Athletics to discuss how to implement the bison as an official mascot.
“Be it enacted that this bill shall take effect immediately upon its passage, and the Indiana University Student Government shall advocate for the revitalization of the Bison mascot as a proud symbol of IU tradition and excellence,” the bill states.
Tinsley said that the 2024 football season was unifying for students and that there is “power” in having something like a new mascot to unify the student body further.
Paul Gutjahr, an English professor at IU, has been a leading advocate for the return of the bison.
“I've always kind of liked the idea of having a mascot to kind of give a greater sense of belonging to the place. And I do like the bison,” Gutjahr said. “It's an image of resilience and endurance and perseverance. They travel in herds, and I like that, I like that there's community with them. So, you know, I would love them to bring it back.”
“I grew up in Colorado and on the eastern plains of Colorado, there's a lot of buffalo herds, and one of the things you learn about buffalo is in blizzards, they actually, rather than running from the storm, they move into the storm,” Gutjahr said.
From this, Gutjahr developed the phrase, “Be the buffalo,” which to him means to “confront the hard things in your life and move through them.”
“I think what people have been encouraged by is the notion that it's okay to face your problems and try to move through them, rather than run from them,” Gutjahr said. “So, when people talk to me about this, I think that's the most encouraging thing they take away.”
IU’s fight song, “Indiana, Our Indiana,” emphasizes a similar sentiment when referring to the university.
“Never daunted, we cannot falter / In the battle, we’re tried and true,” the song says.
Gutjahr said he thinks students deserve a mascot and that the bison is something they could get excited about. To him, the bison is the “natural choice.”
Bison used to roam Indiana and at one point, there was thought to be around 30 million of them in North America. Due to overhunting that began in the early 1800s, the bison were nearly eradicated. Conservation efforts have helped protect the bison, and now there are about 90 in Indiana.
Although bison and buffalo are technically two different species, Gutjahr acknowledged that in many people’s minds they run together.
“The difference is not really legible to most people, so I just kind of transferred one to the other in my mind,” Gutjahr said.
The American bison is also commonly known as the American buffalo. Many historians believe that the mix-up between the American bison and the true buffalo of Africa and Asia is due to the French fur trappers that arrived in North America in the early 1600s. They had never seen bison before and mistook them for buffalo. Now, the American bison is typically referred to as a bison when speaking scientifically and is referred to as a buffalo informally.
Gutjahr also made clear that the bison is not a random choice. In 1963, Indiana officially adopted its current state seal, which features a bison in the foreground.
IU freshman Riley Stapleton strongly believes that IU should readopt the bison.
“I thought ‘They better bring it back,’ like seriously, we need a mascot. We can't have Purdue Pete just dancing around on our football field without an opposing mascot,” Stapleton said.
Stapleton’s reasoning was largely inspired by three posts made Dec. 11 by IU Football on X. Each of the three posts promoted the 2025 season schedule and featured a bison. One of them showed two bison walking through water towards Oregon’s Autzen Stadium with the caption “Hoosiers head west next fall.”
Another post displayed the entire 2025 season schedule against two bison horns piercing through the white backdrop.
Graphics displayed at Memorial Stadium and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall during games include a collage of IU logos, many depicting bison iconography.
“I feel like our football team being good now is already kind of changing our sports culture,” IU freshman Roan Doody said. “It would probably only help us.”
Along with the traction that adopting the bison is receiving, many believe that both could exist at the same time.
“I actually think they could easily coexist,” Gutjahr said. “I don't think we're ever not going to be Hoosiers. I just don't think of Hoosiers as a mascot. I think of it as more kind of a label and a sense of identity, but because nobody knows what it is, it's hard for it to be a matchup. It’s hard to make a plush toy out of a Hoosier.”
Stapleton and Doody echoed this. Doody noted that he isn’t sure if saying “the bison” is as “cool” as “the Hoosiers.”
“I like the idea of having an actual mascot, but I also feel like calling ourselves Hoosiers is such a longstanding tradition, so I feel like it would be hard to switch,” IU junior Morgan Connell said.
Nick’s English Hut adopted the bison logo around the same time as IU had the bison mascot. However, at Nick’s, the bison representation survived through the years and is still a part of their logo today.
The bison mascot suits that roamed the football field from 1965 to 1969 had substantial issues. All of them were too hot, one had no arm holes and another had no eye holes. Due to this, cheerleaders had to have the bison mascot on a leash and lead him around the field. Some students rallied for a real, live bison to serve as the mascot. The unsuccessful suit construction and expense of a real animal were large parts of the bison mascot’s discontinuation.
The future of the mascot
All around, the consensus seems to be that readopting the bison could be rewarding and encouraging, as long as it is done correctly.
“I feel like it just has to be done in a smart way, executed well because then I would also be like oh, we’re called the Hoosiers but what’s this bison doing here?” Connell said.
Gutjahr agreed with this. He said he would be “overjoyed” to see the bison come back, but also that he understands that IU will need to be very thoughtful about such a big change.
“I think the power of mascots are in the story that they tell and the way that they can kind of cohere a sense of community and belonging.” Gutjahr said.
