Banty the Bantam

The Bantam

The origin of Trinity’s mascot can be traced to a spirited speech that the Honorable Joseph Buffington, Class of 1875, gave at an 1899 Princeton Alumni Association dinner. Comparing Harvard, Yale, and Princeton to the big shots of the “collegiate barnyard,” he described Trinity as a proud, unfazed rooster, “he is glad to be here, is not a whit abashed at your hugeness, [and] is satisfied with himself and his own particular coop.” The name caught on with Trinity students and alumni and the press soon started referring to Trinity athletic teams as the Bantams—and the name still stands today.