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A mascot is some thing, typically an animal or human character used to represent a group with a common identity, such as a school, professional sports team, or corporation. American university sports teams are often identified primarily by their mascot. Sports team merchandise often bears the team logo as well as mascot. The team will employ an individual to accompany them to home and away games who dresses up as the creature.
A mascot is not always an animal or person; for example, Stanford University's mascot is a color, and its band's mascot is a tree.
In the United States, there has been controversy surrounding some mascot choices, especially those of human characters. For example, the Champaign-Urbana campus of the University of Illinois' mascot is the "Fighting Illini," a reference to the Native American Indian tribe after which the state of Illinois is named. This choice is considered to be offensive and politically incorrect to many, and may be a case of exploitation of an oppressed race. Others counter that the university is attempting to honor their heritage and recognize the contributions of the First Nations of America. Such debates are not unique to large universities: Alfred University, a school of about 2,000 students in Western New York State has the "Saxon" as its mascot. Its representation is a charging knight in armor. Meant to symbolize strengthThe magnitude of physical strength often referred to as just strength determines the ability of a person or animal to exert force on physical objects using muscles. Strength can be divided into two categories. Short-term endurance and long-term endurance. and courageCourage is the ability to confront fear in the face of pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. As a virtue, courage is covered extensively in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, its vice of deficiency being cowardice, and its vice of excess being recklessn, others protest that the Saxon represents chauvinismChauvinism is extreme and unreasoning partisanship on behalf of a group to which one belongs, especially when the partisanship includes malice and hatred towards a rival group. The term is derived from Nicolas Chauvin, a soldier under Napoleon Bonaparte, and rapeFor the domesticated crop plant called "rape," see rapeseed. For responding to rape as a medical emergency, see sexual assault. For the former administrative division of Sussex, see Rape (district). Rape is a crime of engaging another person into sexual a.