It’s the final day of the search for ACC’s mascot! Online voting ends at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, April 2. Cast your ballot at austincc.edu/mascot.

The search team (including the pink bunny serving as “interim mascot”) has visited every campus, whipping up mascot madness with games, prizes, and on-site voting. (Check out Facebook or the photo gallery at the bottom of this page to see all the fun.) Word also spread when KEYE-TV featured the mascot search on its “We Are Austin Live” program. So far more than 3,000 people have voted for their favorite among the four finalists. Your choices are:

• Bbhoggawacts: A 100% original choice, Bbhoggawacts embrace the “Keep Austin Weird” theme and brings together ACC’s entire 7,000-square-mile service area. Cross out the vowels and you have (B)astrop, (B)lanco, (H)ays, (G)illespie, (G)onzales, (W)illiamson, (C)aldwell, and (T)ravis Counties. A Bbhoggawact is a made-up character that can be defined by the community.
• Blazers: ACC and its students are blazing new trails in a variety of ways, from individual accomplishments to the development of cutting-edge workforce training that helps Central Texas prosper. Blazers are innovators who seek new opportunities and pave the way for those who follow.
• River Bats: Bats are synonymous with Central Texas and so is ACC. They are unique, intelligent, resourceful, and provide important services to the community. Bats are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. The largest urban colony of Mexican free-tailed bats makes its home in Austin. At night they fill the skies, crisscrossing the region.
• Starblazers: A starblazer is a unique symbol representing success and discovery. The star is featured in the ACC logo and has long been tied to ACC. This choice acknowledges the college’s past while also looking to the future. It symbolizes the vibrancy, brilliance, and ambitious spirit of the students and region ACC serves.

Students, employees, alumni, and the entire community are invited to vote on the mascot search webpage (austincc.edu/mascot). Votes are limited to one per person. The top vote-getter will be submitted to the administration for final approval, and then the new mascot will be announced.

“This is already building school spirit and getting students talking about creating tradition for ACC,” said Dr. Kathleen Christensen, vice president for Student Support and Success Systems. “Having a mascot is important because it boosts the sense of college engagement that we know helps students succeed.”

The mascot will also engage future students.

“It brings awareness of the importance of a college education to prospective students, starting at a young age,” says Avy Gonzalez, a student co-chairing the search committee. “It’s really important for students to have a college culture, and a mascot brings all that together.”

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

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. For a thorough explanation of the process, please visit the mascot search webpage.