Petey (mascot)

Petey
University	Canisius College
Conference	MAAC
Description	Anthropomorphic golden griffin
First seen	1967

Petey is the mascot for the Canisius Golden Griffins, the athletic teams of Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, USA. Petey is an anthropomorphic golden griffin who performs live at all Canisius athletic events. Canisius adopted the nickname "Golden Griffins" for their school athletic teams in 1932, in honor of Great Lakes explorer La Salle's ship, Le Griffon. Canisius first used an unnamed costumed griffin as a sideline mascot in 1967. In preparation for the 2002–2003 athletic season, the griffin mascot was completely re-designed and given a new costume and a new name, "Petey," chosen as a reference to St. Peter Canisius, who Canisius College is named for. Canisius' golden griffin has been called one of the most unusual of all NCAA mascots. In 2010, after the College of William & Mary adopted the Griffin as their new school mascot, Petey "wrote" a satirical open letter to the William & Mary griffin that was published in USA Today, welcoming the new griffin mascot to the college mascot community. In 2013, the Catholic website Busted Halo held a March Madness-style competition to determine the title of "Best Catholic Mascot" through online voting. Petey won the online tournament, besting a field of 32 Catholic school mascots, including Notre Dame's Leprechaun and Boston College's Baldwin the Eagle.

...
Wikipedia