4Cs Welcomes Blue Shark Mascot
by Michael Kehoe
Cape Cod Community College’s (4Cs) new mascot, the blue shark, is meant to unite the students and inspire a sense of school spirit.
Last spring, 4Cs held a campus-wide contest to decide on a new logo meant to represent the school. The purpose behind the friendly competition was to find an image that could be a symbol of school pride in the student body.
“We wanted to promote more student involvement and participation across the whole campus and we thought it would be a good idea to have an image that people could associate with the college and Campus Life,” 4Cs Campus Engagement and Wellness Coordinator Tracy Morin said.
Dozens of entries were submitted and eventually a vote was held across the college to determine a victor. Staff member Christine Paulk was the artist behind the winning proposal and the school’s new mascot became the blue shark. There is no name for the shark mascot at this time, but that is a possibility for Campus Life down the road.
The first step for the new school symbol has been to market its presence to the community. The college bookstore has recently started selling merchandise with the new logo emblazoned across it. Hats, T-shirts and even sweatshirts proudly displaying the blue shark can be purchased on campus. The feedback so far from the student body has been very positive, according to Morin.
“So far the school has really seemed to embrace the mascot,” Morin said. “We have the new merchandise in the bookstore that has been selling well and we are trying to incorporate the logo on more things that have to do with Campus Life.”
Campus Life puts out a weekly newsletter and this year they have the blue shark proudly displayed across it to promote the college. As the year goes on, the plan is to add the blue shark logo to even more aspects of the college as a way to identify events at 4Cs. The goal is to make it easier for the community to notice campus activities by way of the blue shark symbol.
Though a school mascot is often associated with athletic programs, there are no plans at this time to incorporate any collegiate-level sports at 4Cs. There is, however, an intramural sports program that is run by the Campus Life department. So far, there is only organized basketball games, but if more students show a desire for other sports, then the intramural program will grow, said Morin.
“If the students want more intramurals, then we can definitely make that happen,” said Morin. “The new mascot wasn’t originally intended to promote a new sports department, but we are always open to expanding the intramurals we offer. We have the equipment already, we just need people who are passionate about sports to come to us and ask for more sports programs.”
The blue shark mascot is still a very new tool for the college and thus far, its integration into the community has been slow, but steady. The focus has been to give the school a symbol that the student body can identify and associate with the college. Merchandise has been an important step to display the logo to the student body and to get people excited about having a legitimate school mascot. Campus Life has been the main department to utilize the logo, attempting to promote school events and activities to the students.
“Nothing here in the Campus Life department can take hold without student participation,” Morin explained. “We are hoping that the blue shark will show students that we are just like any other college and that if they want to make activities and events happen, we can help with getting that done. At Campus Life, we want to let the students know that we think it’s very important for their voices to be heard and that’s what we are here for.”
Categories: Student Life,