Blue the Bear Mascot Portrait
Photo: Crystal Wylie ’05

Our beloved Blue walked out of the woods of the Berea College Forest and onto campus on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, and was welcomed as a new mascot representing the Berea College Mountaineers. 

Berea College’s Marketing and Communications staff presented the school’s Administrative Committee with the idea of having Blue as a mascot, and once approved, Blue had a new home. 

“Blue is a great addition to our campus, bringing excitement to Berea Athletics and increasing our overall school spirit,” said Athletics Director Ryan Hess. “We are all proud to be Berea Mountaineers, and we are proud to have Blue joining us and sporting the blue and white.” 

While at Berea, Blue will enroll in Sustainability and Environmental Studies courses, focusing on learning more about Berea College’s more than 9,000 acres of College forest and its reservoirs, ponds and streams. Blue was fascinated to learn that Berea is a certified Bee Campus, and we are carefully avoiding revealing where the College hives are located! Blue is currently working on a student paper focusing on an age-old question: if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it actually make a sound?

When not in class or at athletics events, Blue might be found eating a blueberry bear claw at the Berea Farm Store, researching the Blue family ancestry in the extensive Special Collections and Archives area of the Hutchins Library, shopping for new Blue-branded t-shirts, face tattoos (Blue’s favorite gift to other Berea fans) and bumper stickers at the Berea College Visitor Center & Shoppe, or napping under a beautiful campus tree (it is almost hibernation season, after all). 

“We’ve had Blue as a guest at the President’s House, and I have to say, Blue is a very polite bear,” said Berea College President Lyle Roelofs. “Blue is a bit of a messy eater and kind of clumsy but otherwise fun to have around. We are excited to have Blue on campus spreading college spirit wherever Blue goes.” 

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Clark Allison ‘79
Clark Allison ‘79
10 months ago

In reference to Berea’s new mascot, “Blue”, I think it would be better to have the bear’s name on their hat instead of a generic bear head logo. You could even have “Berea Blue” on the hat to signify their connection to Berea College. Also, consider using a graphic picture of “Blue” on tee shirts, etc. instead of generic bear heads and profiles. Look at a couple of tee shirt bears in the attached photo. Smokey Bear with his hat is a good example of what I am talking about.

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