Gibby the Otter

Ottawa University Mascot History

Official Terminology:
Ottawa University (Kan.) – Braves
Mascot – Gibby the Otter
“Spirit of the Brave” – Giego

The Campus, in its November 14, 1922 (vol. 9) edition said that “Committees with the consent of Coach Elbel have decided that in the future the Baptist (OU) players shall be called ‘Braves’ as the school nickname.” So it was the homecoming football game against then Pittsburg Normals (Pittsburg State University) that OU took to the field as the Braves (November 18, 1922).

The river otter is the sacred animal of the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma. One of the Ottawa University students, who was serving as Giego and was also a mascot for a couple of other local teams, petitioned to create a mascot character that could interact with the fans in a fun manner. Student Senate and administration loved the idea and took that sugestion to the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma. The student body made nominations as to what character we should have. Once that was selected a second vote to name the character was taken.Ottawa University alumnus Jan Lee’s suggestion of Gibby was selected by the student body and Gibby the River Otter was born.