WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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An owl. A raccoon. An eagle. A collie. A bulldog named “Ox.” All had short-lived stints as the mascot of Indiana University. In 2025, IU re-adopted a bison as its athletics mascot. The bison served as IU Bloomington’s longest-running official mascot, from 1965 to 1969, and has now returned as “Hoosier the Bison.” It makes more sense than casual observers might think; a bison appears on the official state seal, and they roamed Indiana well into the 1800s. We hear from students who were part of the planning to bring back the bison – Student Athletic Board president Francisco Caceras and IU Athletics intern Katie Dewey – and reaction from IU superfan Gayla Klingelhoffer.
CREDIT:
Today’s feature story on the return of IU’s bison mascot was produced by Jackson Pitner in partnership with The Media School at Indiana University.
Theme music by LiteSaturation.
