New Mascot Announced: ACC is Home of the River Bats!

The Austin Community College District now has a mascot. ACC is the home of the River Bats!

More than 4,000 students, employees, alumni, and community members cast a vote online in late March and early April. River Bats scored 37 percent of the votes cast. Here is the vote breakdown for the mascot finalists:

Students at ACC's Rio Grande Campus celebrate the new mascot.

  • River Bats: 1,554 votes (37 percent)
  • Bbhoggawacts (acronym for counties ACC serves): 1,162 votes (28 percent)
  • Starblazers: 1,078 votes (26 percent)
  • Blazers: 402 votes (10 percent)

ACC and the Student Government Association hosted announcement parties at each of the college’s seven campuses.

“We are thrilled to have a symbol that unites all the ACC campuses and the entire region the college serves,” says Cheryl Richard, director of Student Life. “Having a mascot is very important. It is a tool that will make students feel more connected to their school, and we know that sense of engagement helps them succeed.”

This summer, the college will get community input on the design of the mascot, with the big reveal scheduled for fall 2010.

ACC received hundreds of mascot suggestions last fall, and a rigorous research/focus group process followed. The mascot search committee narrowed it down to the final four.

Background information:

In fall 2009, ACC formed a mascot search committee to find the perfect symbol to represent the college. The committee is comprised of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members. The committee developed a four-step process and criteria for choosing the college’s new mascot in a way that engages the community and is considerate of college history as well as current practices, policies, and procedures.

Four-step search process:

  1. Idea Submission (October-November): encouraging the entire community to submit ideas.
  2. Research (January-March): the process of research, elimination, and focus groups.
  3. Vote (March 22-April 2): the community voted on the final four mascot candidates. The winning nomination was presented to the administration for final approval. ACC announced its new mascot April 28.
  4. Reveal (fall 2010): The mascot image will be introduced to the public.

Criteria for selecting the mascot:

  • Eliminate mascots already in use by high schools in ACC’s eight-county service area, local universities and colleges, and regional pro-sports teams, unless there is a unique tie to ACC.

Focus groups told us the finalists should:

  • Represent the entire Austin Community College District and the Central Texas region
  • Be unique to ACC
  • Reflect the essence of ACC

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