Technical College of the Lowcountry wants your help to come up with its first mascot

The University of South Carolina has Cocky the gamecock, Clemson has a tiger, but for 155 years The Technical College of the Lowcountry has been without a mascot.

Now, it wants the community to help the college come up with what its first figure will be.

Before opening to the public Monday, the online survey opened up to faculty, staff, students and alumni last week and already has over 100 submissions, according to Leigh Copeland, TCL’s assistant vice president of marketing and public relations.

“We thought it would be just another way to reenergize the brand,” Copeland said. “We thought it would really bring some fun and energy to our campus and to the community, internally and externally.”

The survey closes March 24. Go to https://www.tcl.edu/mascot

Copeland said the marketing team will then select and announce finalists around May or June. Then, the college and the community will be able to vote for their favorites to select a winner. Copeland said whoever comes up with the winning mascot will be recognized, though they’re not yet sure how.

In July and August they will name the mascot and begin designing what the mascot will look like.

“It’s going to probably be 2024 before we see a costume mascot walking around our campus or the community,” Copeland said.

The college hasn’t had a mascot since it was formed as the Mather School, in 1868 for the daughters of freed enslaved people . Now, it has four campuses, including a standalone culinary school. The state of South Carolina acquired the school in 1968 as a trade school and it eventually became one of the state’s 16 technical colleges.

Copeland said about half of the state’s technical colleges have mascots. They include mascots like the Central Carolina Technical College Titans and the Horry-Georgetown Technical College Gators.

Ideally, the mascot will be something related to the region, and Copeland said those ideas will be prioritized when the marketing team is selecting finalists.

While TCL does not have any sports teams, the mascot will be on merchandise whether it be stickers, T-shirts or bumper stickers, Copeland said. It will also be incorporated into marketing materials.

She said they already have some great ideas, but wanted to save the surprise of her favorite submission for the voting this spring.

“I don’t want to overshadow anybody’s creativity,” she said.