Thanks to a student leadership initiative in response to student requests, Richland Community College will bring back its mascot – the Richland Knight. Richland’s Student Leadership Council (SLC) was the driving force behind bringing the Knight mascot back to life in an effort to create more school pride for its students. During the spring semester, students prepared surveys, conducted research on college mascots, and ultimately chose to bring the Knight mascot back. Students presented some concept designs to Richland’s Board of Trustees, who were excited about the enthusiasm of the student leadership to oversee this endeavor.
Virginia Bailee Book, Richland’s Student Trustee, is excited about the mascot, “When I started student leadership, the main goal was to set forth a mascot that would represent our college well. We worked hard as a team to create options, surveyed the student body, and in the end decided on the Knight. I believe having a strong mascot to help identify with will help students to feel more connected, as well as create a sense of community.”
According to Dr. Isaac Zuniga, Vice President of Student Success, “A revitalization of school spirit has been a goal of our Student Leadership Council and with the reintroduction of the Richland Knight as our campus mascot it upholds the values of faith, loyalty, courage, and honor which to me are the essence of any good mascot.” He added, “Having the mascot will create excitement and will help us strengthen the student experience at Richland. In addition, because we support inclusivity, our Knight is gender neutral, because we believe Richland is a campus for everyone.”
Richland student, Brenden Wilson, was also part of the mascot project, “Making this mascot a reality was very important to me. I was very involved in pursuing the idea and I’m very pleased with the outcome. The mascot turned out better than we could have imagined. I can speak for all of student leadership council in saying we are all so excited to see this idea come to life, and we hope everyone else enjoys it too.”
The SLC will slowly continue to roll out the mascot design during the fall semester with some planned virtual events, social media posts, and the introduction of the new Knight “look” on the College’s Student Planner. Classes for the Fall 2020 Semester started today with several Welcome Week events planned. During these virtual events students will have unique opportunities to win Knight t-shirts as part of several scheduled giveaways.
In addition, the Knight will be the mascot for the college’s intramural teams which include sports like volleyball, ultimate frisbee, basketball and soccer.