History of the Blue Jay
From the Grey Ghost to the Blue Jay, Elizabethtown College's beloved mascot has assumed many identities over the years. Even with the change, the students and alumni keep the spirit and love of the College alive for over 100 years.
In the 1930s Elizabethtown College basketball players were called the “Galloping Grey Ghosts.” In 1945-1946 the college held a competition to name all the athletes and teams. The student body voted to adopt the Blue Jay as its new mascot. The reason: “With its blue body and grey and white breast, the blue jay wears the colors of the school, and with its well-known fighting spirit characterizes the efforts shown by our teams in competition.” In the spring of 1947, Ira Herr, Director of Athletics, named the men’s basketball team the Blue Jays and the women’s basketball team the Blue Birds. In 1950 C. Frederick Horbach, History major, class of 1953 and president of the Student Senate designed the Blue Jay Mascot. Elizabethtown College became the home of the Blue Jays with this reasoning: “Thus, as the tiger symbolizes Princeton, the bulldog, Yale, so Mr. Blue Jay stands for the spirit and rivalry consistent at Etown!”