Collegiate Mascot of the Year | The 2026 Mascot Awards
The Collegiate Mascot of the Year is the Mascot Hall of Fame’s highest annual honor in college mascotry. It’s a Golden Reggy for the program that best represented its institution through exceptional performance, creativity, fan engagement, school spirit, and community impact.
College mascots carry a lot on their furry shoulders. They energize packed stadiums, anchor campus traditions, welcome prospective students, reconnect alumni, and represent the school in the community.
Collegiate Mascot of the Year
What the Collegiate Mascot of the Year Award Honors
The Collegiate Mascot of the Year honors an outstanding college or university mascot program that demonstrated exceptional performance, creativity, engagement, and impact during the award year.
This award celebrates the complete mascot program, not just one great routine or viral moment. The winner energizes crowds, creates memorable game days, embodies its institution’s personality and traditions, connects with students and alumni, and makes a meaningful difference in the broader community.
What Judges and Fans Look For
- Game-day performance and character execution
- Creativity and originality
- Fan and student engagement
- School spirit
- Community involvement
- Digital presence
- Overall impact during the eligible award year
The strongest nominations show the mascot performing across multiple environments, not just at a single event.
The question this award asks: Which collegiate mascot best represented its institution while creating extraordinary experiences for its fans, campus and community this year?
The Three Dimensions to Show
Game Day + Campus & Fan Engagement + Community Impact
Collegiate Human Mascot of the Year
What the Collegiate Human Mascot of the Year Award Honors
The Collegiate Human Mascot of the Year honors an outstanding human mascot tradition that brought its university’s character, traditions and school spirit to life through performance, presence and engagement.
Human mascots carry generations of history in a recognizable human persona or role. This Golden Reggy celebrates both the individual performance and the tradition it represents.
Who Is Eligible
A human mascot is an officially recognized mascot portrayed primarily through a visible human character or persona, rather than a performer concealed within a full-body character costume.
Tradition and history strengthen a nominee’s story, but this is an annual award. Nominations should focus on what the human mascot accomplished during the eligible year.
What Judges and Fans Look For
- Performance and presence
- Embodiment of school tradition
- Fan and student engagement
- Leadership and institutional representation
- Overall impact during the eligible award year
This award asks: Which human mascot most successfully brought its university’s character, traditions, and school spirit to life this year?
The Four Dimensions to Show
Tradition & Identity + Performance & Presence + Fan Engagement + Institutional Impact
Collegiate Live Animal Mascot of the Year
What the Collegiate Live Animal Mascot of the Year Award Honors
The Collegiate Live Animal Mascot of the Year honors the live animal mascot program that best represented its institution’s spirit, tradition, and identity while demonstrating responsible stewardship.
For many schools, a live mascot is a living symbol that connects generations of students, alumni, and fans. This award celebrates the complete program, including the people who carry that tradition forward with care.
Animal Welfare Comes First
Responsible stewardship is a condition of eligibility, not a judging category. Each program must identify who oversees the animal’s care and confirm that established animal-welfare, veterinary, and handling protocols are in place.
The award doesn’t go to the oldest tradition, the most famous school, or the most exotic animal. It goes to the program that best shows how a live mascot can embody an institution while creating meaningful experiences for its community.
Eligible nominees are officially recognized live animal mascots representing accredited colleges or universities.
What Judges and Fans Look For
- Tradition and institutional significance
- Game-day presence
- Fan, campus and community connection
- Stewardship of the mascot tradition
- Overall impact during the eligible award year
The question this award asks: Which live animal mascot program best represented the spirit, tradition and identity of its college or university this year?
The Four Dimensions to Show
Tradition & Institutional Identity + Game-Day Presence + Fan & Community Connection + Responsible Stewardship
How to Nominate a Collegiate Mascot
Each collegiate program may submit, per award:
- One 60–90 second highlight video
- 5–10 photographs
- An impact statement of 250 words or fewer covering the most significant accomplishments from the eligible year
- Up to three supporting links (optional): social content, media coverage or additional video
Live animal programs must also include a brief statement naming who oversees the animal’s care and confirming welfare, veterinary and handling protocols.
Open Mascot Awards Collegiate Programs Can Enter
College mascots can also compete in the open categories, which are eligible to all levels:
- Stunt of the Year
- Best Dance Performance
- Greatest Community Impact
- Mascot Fail of the Year
- Awwww Inspiring Moment
- Mascot First
- Most Iconic Viral Moment
- Best New Mascot Reveal
- Rising Star Award (Mascots 5 Years and Younger)
- Mascot Prop of the Year
- Mascot Video Short of the Year
- Best In-Game Routine or Skit
Did You Know?
College mascotry started with a $5 dog. In 1889, Yale student Andrew Graves bought a bulldog from a New Haven blacksmith. The dog, named Handsome Dan, became the first live animal mascot in American college sports. Yale has since had 18 Handsome Dans. Bingo, the only female in the line, was adopted in 1969, the year Yale first admitted women. The original Dan is still on display at Yale’s Payne Whitney Gymnasium, which makes him the most dedicated mascot in history. He has never missed a day.
About the Mascot Awards
The Mascot Awards, presented by the Mascot Hall of Fame, celebrate the best moments in mascotry every year. Hall of Fame induction honors a career. The Golden Reggys honor what happened this year, and every mascot program can earn one.
