Happy 70th, Cy

Hallway filled with people and Cy mascot

Cy fit right in during a September 2022 open house at the Student Innovation Center. Photos by Christopher Gannon.

Cy the mascot, who turns 70 on Oct. 16, will spend his birthday doing what he loves: Cheering on his team and working the Hilton Coliseum crowd during that night's Iowa State-BYU volleyball match (6:30 p.m.). There might be some singing; at the very least there should be some happy birthday magic in the air that evening.

It will be one of about 100 regular-season gameday appearances -- football, soccer, wrestling, gymnastics and basketball, in addition to volleyball -- on Cy's calendar this academic year. A bowl game, conference tournament or postseason play for any of those squads swells that number, said Kendra Simpson, spirit squad coordinator and head cheer coach in the athletics department.

Louis Armstrong in tuxedo with early Cy mascot

Cy didn't exist yet for Louis Armstrong's first visit to campus in 1950, but he made sure to welcome the famed musician back for a concert in 1966.

Still, that load doesn't compare to Cy's community calendar: About 400 appearances each year at weddings, graduations, birthdays and tailgates, and university events such as Destination Iowa State. No two appearances can overlap, timewise.

That dude is busy.

Fortunately, each year, Iowa State's mascot squad comprises six to 10 students who divvy up all those events. It happens to be a six-member squad this year. Tryouts are held in the spring, and most squad members serve the full 3.5 years, Simpson said. Due to the costume's size, Cy the mascot students should be at least 5 feet 7 inches tall but not much taller than 6 feet 1 inch. They share eight costume sets, two of which always are out of the rotation while the squad's equipment manager launders them. Even so, mind that hot dog mustard when you're leaning in for a photo with Cy; a new costume costs about $11,000.

Cy's origins

(black and white) The 1954 Iowa State cheer squad with the origi

The Iowa State cheer squad introduced the original Cy during the 1954 Homecoming football game. Historic images courtesy of Special Collections and University Archives.

The first Cy was introduced to Cyclone fans at Iowa State's 1954 Homecoming football game at Clyde Williams Field. He was born out of two decisions in the early 1950s: the first a consensus among Iowa State students -- led by the pep council -- that "you can't stuff a cyclone." In the search for an alternate mascot, they opted for a cardinal bird, based on the school colors and the names of existing organizations, Cardinal Key and Cardinal Guild. Secondly, in a subsequent nationwide name contest, "Cy" was submitted 17 times and chosen as the cardinal's name.

The first Cy was nearly 8 feet tall, made mostly from chicken wire and aluminum. Virgil Petty, who completed his first Iowa State degree in 1957, was chosen by the athletics club to be the inaugural Cy (shortly after not landing a spot on the varsity basketball team).

Since his introduction, Cy has survived numerous redesigns and refittings, a plucking in 1961 at the hands of University of Missouri students, a car accident and emergency restorative surgery enroute to the 1972 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, and a series of kidnappings in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1966, Cy secretly wed Susie Snapper Hawk from the University of Iowa. Naturally, that union was doomed.

In 1975, the first woman donned what at the time was a taller, 35-pound Cy costume. She was Betsy Thomas, a 6-foot-2-inch sophomore from Normal, Illinois.

Cy's sidekick, the agile Clone, was introduced to Cyclone fans at Hilton Coliseum in January 1989. An irrepressible dancer and a hit with children and students, Clone complemented the statelier Cy. The duo worked in tandem for several years.

In March 1995, when Iowa State introduced its new family of Cyclone logos at the Big 8 Conference men's basketball tournament, qualities of Cy and Clone were merged into one mascot, the friendly Cy.

Our thoroughly modern Cy still doesn't say much but is able to share his experiences on his own Instagram account. Check it out next week; maybe he'll post a few birthday photos.

 

 

Cy red bird mascot observes teams in varied color T-shirts packa

In August 2023, the Iowa Soybean Research Center invited Cy to a Soybean Month in Iowa event where volunteers assembled about 38,000 meals for the Meals in the Heartland program.