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Origins of the Mascot
The college did not have an official mascot for its sports teams until 1969. For most of its early history the sports teams were
called the "Orange" and sometimes "The Orangemen". This name probably was derived from the college's colors of orange and black. Using the name of the "Orange" or the "Orangemen" often times caused confusion because the sports teams at Syracuse University were also known as the Orangemen.
During the 1950's the basketball team was at times called The Billies. The team mascot for a few years was a goat. Few seemed
happy with the names used for the teams. A contest was held in late 1969 to find a new name and a mascot. On December 1, 1969, the
Orangemen basketball team opened their regular season against Toronto University. When the second half began, the Orangemen had
become the Bengals. From that day forward all of Buffalo State's sports teams have been called the Bengals. Many athletes, coaches,
and college administrators thought the "Orangemen" sounded trite. The Bengal Tiger has the college's colors of black and orange and
appears ferocious, making it a suitably intimidating figure for our sports teams.
In January 2002, Buffalo State Intercollegiate Athletics introduced the present design by Jon Adroix for the tiger mascot (pictured above).
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Old Mascot
The original design for the mascot was created by Susan Salazar:
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This page last updated 5/23/06
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