Campus selects ‘Scotty’ as name for its mascot

Students, faculty and staff had a unique opportunity during the fall 2012 semester to contribute to the history of Nevada State College by taking part in the official naming of the college's scorpion mascot. The name "Scotty" was chosen during the campuswide selection process held Sept. 4-21.

Suggested by a student, the acronym SCOTTY stands for "scorpion community of today, tomorrow, yesterday."

During the first two weeks of the process, the campus submitted more than 200 names for the mascot via an online nomination form. The names Scotty, Sullivan and Stinger were then selected from the full list of nominations as finalists by an on-campus committee of students, alumni, faculty, staff and administrators. The committee selected the names based in part on the total number of submissions as well as other criteria such as creativity and how it reflected the spirit of NSC.

The final round of voting was open for one week, closing on Sept. 21. Nearly 250 votes were received.

"The overwhelming participation and enthusiasm for the naming of our mascot is a true representation of the spirit and campus pride at Nevada State College," NSC President Bart Patterson said.

In 2002, the first class of NSC students also had the chance to be a part of the college's history as they voted to select the institution's mascot and colors.

"During our early years, gold scorpions made regular appearances around the Dawson building," said Rho Hudson, Ed.D., an associate professor of education. "The scorpion mascot and the school colors of gold and black were a perfect fit with our surrounding landscape."

The college's 6-foot scorpion mascot was first introduced, without a name, to the campus and community in April during the Henderson Heritage Parade.