IU has tested a variety of mascots over the years to varying levels of success. Notable short-lived mascots include an owl, a raccoon, an eagle, a collie, a bulldog named “Ox,” “Mr. Hoosier Schoolmaster,” and “Mr. Hoosier Pride.” But the bison, which served as IU Bloomington’s longest-running official mascot from 1965 to 1969, is now making its return as “Hoosier the Bison” for this year’s football season.
Before IU officially declared the bison its mascot for the first time in 1965, the animal’s image had long held associations to the state. A bison was depicted on a seal for the Indiana Territory in 1801 and can be seen on the state’s official seal to this day. Images of the bison appear in IU archival material as well. An IU logo featuring the bison is shown in a 1920 issue of The Hoosier, and a 1962 issue of the Indiana Alumni Magazine uses the bison in a new IU coat of arms. The bison’s association with Indiana pride and with IU’s visual identity made it a natural contender for the role of the university’s mascot.
In 1946, there was a brief attempt to appoint the bison as IU’s mascot, but complications arose due to the fact that students wanted a real bison on the field. This was once again the original intention when the Student Senate passed a unanimous resolution on October 14th, 1965, to make the bison IU’s mascot. The plan was for the bison to be kept in Brown County but brought to the field during games, where it would be tied to the scoreboard. One Indiana Daily Student writer voiced their concerns toward this idea and proposed that the school instead use a person in a bison costume as its mascot: “Having given our view-with-alarm stand on the Bison issue, we would herewith like to advance a positive solution to such possibilities as the animal (1) running roughshod through the card section; (2) refusing to go along with the idea at all; (3) eating somebody; or, (4) the wind changing” (IDS 10/26/1965).
As in 1946, state officials did not allow IU to buy a real bison as its mascot, so the first bison costume was created for the IU vs. Purdue football game held on November 20th, 1965. The next year, the costume was upgraded to one designed by a Disney firm that cost $1,400. But the high-priced costume brought its own challenges: Since it was so difficult for the costume-wearer to see through the nostrils of the costume, the mascot was often led around the field on a leash by a cheerleader. The costume was given a renovated bison head for the 1968 Rose Bowl, after which the mascot is seen sparingly (for example, in photos of a 1973 football game).
But the bison did not completely disappear from the Bloomington campus. Popular Bloomington sports bar Nick’s English Hut adopted the bison as its own mascot when IU first proposed the idea in the 1960s. Although IU did not keep the animal as its mascot, Nick’s is still recognizable by its bison logo.
In 2021, IU English professor Paul Gutjahr began his campaign to “Bring Back the Bison,” seeing the mascot as an opportunity to promote community among students. He gave out bison-themed merchandise and bought two bison mascot costumes. The idea caught on, and finally, in December of 2024, the IU Student Government voted in favor of the “Bring Back the Bison Act.” “Hoosier the Bison” made his public debut on August 30th, 2025, when he flew into Memorial Stadium via parachute for IU’s first home football game of the season. Although it took awhile for Hoosier to get here, it seems this mascot might finally be the one that sticks!
