SUNY Jamestown Community College is competing in “Mascot Madness,” an annual tradition that brings SUNY mascots together in a decade-old competition to find out who is crowned the fan favorite in all of New York.
Similar to the annual NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, 32 mascots are sectioned into four regions. The first round runs this week from noon Tuesday through 3 p.m. Friday at suny.edu/mascotmadness. SUNY JCC’s mascot, JJ Jayhawk, first faces a two-time winner: SUNY Binghamton’s Baxter, whose college enrollment is approximately 17,000 students.
“We’re the underdogs, and who doesn’t love an underdog,” said Jayhawk. “I represent the best community college in the state, and we can show those bigger schools what happens when the hawks band together!”
According to his bio, Jayhawk is originally from Hawk Mountain, and moved to Jamestown when he was a little hawk. He built his nest near JCC in 1950, when the college was founded and after decades of trying, earned the mascot position 11 years ago.
Voting breaks out as follows:
- Round 1: March 12-15
- Round 2: March 19-21
- Round 3: March 22-26
- Semifinals/Final Four: March 27-29
- Finals: April 2-4
Daniel DeMarte, president of JCC, encourages everyone in the community to rally around the college and its mascot.
“It’s a great time of year to have some fun and see how far JJ can go in this year’s competition,” DeMarte said. “We hope everyone in the JCC community and surrounding area will vote early and often and help put JJ on the mascot map.”
To follow the contests and vote for JJ Jayhawk, visit suny.edu/mascotmadness.