Southeast Community College's history of mascots is full of changes, reflecting its different campuses and mergers.
In 1941, the Fairbury Junior College opened its doors. Fairbury Junior College had several athletic teams and a mascot was chosen for the college. According to the publication,
Remembrances of fifty years …, Fairbury Junior College named its athletic teams the "Bombers." Presumably a student, Donna Gibson, had submitted the "Bombers" as the name of the new football team. The teams were active until 1944 when Fairbury Junior College closed because of World War II. In 1946, the College resumed operation and the football team was in competition again.
The same publication,
Remembrances of fifty years …, indicates that the teams were renamed the "Blue Devils" during the 1986-1987 school year. When the Beatrice and Fairbury campuses were combined in late 1986, the College thought it would be beneficial to start the new era of athletics with a new mascot. A contest was held for the students, staff and faculty to select the new mascot. The students and employees were encouraged to submit possible mascot names. Then, five possible finalists were selected followed by a two-day election. The winning mascot name, Blue Devils, had been submitted by a student in the Business Program, Dana Stoll.
During the 2001-2002 school year, the College asked students and staff to submit names to replace the Blue Devils. According to an article in the
Lincoln Journal Star in January 2001, the SCC Beatrice officials decided to bring a new feeling about SCC athletics with a change in mascots. There had been some concerns raised about the use of the devil image, but people seemed to be more concerned about the women's teams known as the Lady Demons.
Again, as in 1986, the Beatrice officials asked the students, staff and faculty to select a new mascot for the athletes. The name, Storm, was the winner in the election. With the new name came new uniforms for the teams which was appreciated.
In 2023, an announcement was made that the Storm teams would be renamed the Bobcats. In this instance, an outside group conducted surveys and polls to help select the mascot. With the fall semester of 2023-2024, the Bobcats were on the prowl.
Written by Jo Shimmin, LRC Specialist
References
Remembrances of fifty years … [50 years of academic excellence], Southeast Community College, Beatrice, NE, 1990, pp. 2, 4-5
Lincoln Journal Star, Larry Peirce. "SCC-Beatrice changes nickname to Storm."
Lincoln Journal Star (NE), City ed., sec. B, 19 Jan. 2001, p. 01.
NewsBank: Access World News, https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=AWNB&req_dat=0D44036A73965900&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews/118C89E92D52B8E0. Accessed 2 Oct. 2023.
"We are Bobcats."
Southeast Community College Alumni News. September 2023, pp 8-9.
https://www.southeast.edu/about/alumni-and-foundation/alumni/files/SCC-AlumniNews_Sept23web.pdf
