NAMPA, Idaho — The Broncos have been the official mascot of Boise State University since the early 1930's, thanks to a pair of players on the Broncos' first football team.
Preston Hale and Owen Sproat said there were no other teams with a Bronco mascot or schools with a blue and orange color combination, so they decided to become the first in the nation.
Fast forward 80 years, when the Treasure Valley opened its very first community college, the College of Western Idaho (CWI).
For the first ten years of CWI's existence, the school did not have a mascot. In fact, they were without their own campus. The school was actually housed on the Boise State University campus in Nampa.
When CWI moved in, several Boise State Bronco logos were left behind, so someone decided to put horn tickers on the logos and call them the "Bronco-corns." It later morphed into "Sparkles the Unicorn," and he accompanied the school's award winning debate team too.
In December 2019, the CWI Board of Trustees decided they needed a 'real' mascot.
After gathering feedback from the community, CWI decided on the Otters, an ode to former Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter.
Now, two-and-a-half years later, CWI is almost ready to show off its logo, but it needs more input first.
The CWI Mascot Development Survey is now open for the public to help the school choose between "River the Otter," or "Rio the Otter," for its mascot's name. There is also two design options to decide between, show below:
CWI's mascot survey is open through Friday, May 27. The survey can be completed by clicking here.
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