Spring 2025 Edition
Alumni & Friends Magazine
100 Years of Bobcats
OHIO鈥檚 mascot celebrates a century of school spirit.
Taylor Connelly, BSJ 鈥26 | March 24, 2025
Share:
Until 1925, the University鈥檚 athletic teams were without a mascot, usually referred to with unofficial nicknames鈥攕uch as the football team鈥檚 moniker of 鈥淔ighting Fools,鈥 as noted in the student newspaper, Green and White. To solve this conundrum, the University sponsored a , with a prize of $10 for the winner. After more than 100 entries and several meetings of the Athletic Advisory Board of the Men鈥檚 Union, former student .
The in 1960 thanks to the enterprising young men of Lincoln Hall and featured a brown, bearish-looking cat in a varsity sweater and beanie. In 1983, The Post announced that 鈥.鈥 The new costume swapped the sweater for an open vest and was seen as more collegiate, but was still cartoonish; one Post opinion writer compared it to 鈥.鈥 The costume saw yet to a slimmer, but still somewhat silly, build in the late 鈥90s.
During much of that time, Mr. Bobcat wasn鈥檛 the school鈥檚 only mascot. Created by all-female residents of Howard Hall and debuted by Francesca (Femia) Hahn, BSC '69, the was an unofficial addition to games and Homecoming parades from 1967 to 1990. Her costume included a papier-m芒ch茅 head, a white sweater with a green 鈥淥鈥 patched on, a skirt and bloomers that read 鈥淥H-IO.鈥 The Bobkitten went dormant during the 鈥90s, and the costume was lost. While Bobkitten has not been seen since, women weren鈥檛 left out of mascot lore entirely, as in 1995 a female student鈥斺攄onned the official Bobcat costume .
In September 2006, the University debuted the Bobcat we know and love today. Rolling into Peden Stadium on his motorcycle, the revamped mascot was slimmed-down, tougher-looking and sported the name 鈥,鈥 a reference to both the species name for the bobcat, Lynx rufus, and University co-founder Rufus Putnam.
After 100 years and many changes, Rufus the Bobcat stands as a beloved feature of OHIO, reflecting the spirit of the University and its students. Here鈥檚 to 100 more.
Feature photo collage: The evolution of Mr. Bobcat to OHIO鈥檚 beloved Rufus ... with some guest appearances by his onetime companion, Bobkitten. Photographs courtesy of the Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections and Ohio University Photography
