game at the
Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion (2023). A 1997 article in the
Syracuse University Magazine provides a short history of the mascots at Syracuse University. The character was born out of a
hoax from a report by student humor magazine Orange Peel, in which it was claimed that a 16th-century
Onondaga chief was unearthed while digging the foundation for the women's gymnasium in 1928. In the mid-1950s, the father of a
Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity brother owned a cheer leading camp. He made a Saltine Warrior costume for his son to wear at SU football games. Thus began a nearly forty-year tradition of Lambda Chi brothers serving as SU's mascot. In 1990 however the University opened up the mascot traditions to the entire student body (Daily Orange, February 22, 1990). In December 1977, Native American students successfully petitioned the University to discontinue the Saltine Warrior, citing the mascot's stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans. The mascot was discontinued in 1978.
Oren Lyons,
Onondaga Nation leader and an alumn, called the warrior derogatory. Then, the mascot was simply known as
"the Orange", In the summer of 1990, the cheerleaders and mascots were at Cheerleading Camp in Tennessee and the students who were chosen to suit up in the costume narrowed the field down to two potential names — "Opie" and "Otto" — as a new orange costume was made. It was concluded that the name "Opie" would lead to the inevitable rhyme with 'dopey', and settled on "Otto." Later that fall, word got out that the cheerleaders were calling the latest mascot costume Otto, and the name stuck. For 17 years the university did not settle on an "official" mascot until the chancellor appointed a group of students and faculty to create a mascot and logo. University administration considered introducing a new mascot – a wolf (
"An Orange Pack of Wolves" In 2016, Otto was named in the top-10 mascots in college football by
Sports Illustrated. In the same year, Otto was ranked No. 1 mascot in the ACC by
ESPN. On 12 August 2023, Otto was inducted in the
Mascot Hall of Fame following a two-week online vote in May. In January 2024, the
National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled an Otto Bobblehead to celebrate the
National Bobblehead Day on January 7. The museum previously released two versions of Otto bobblehead in 2017. One celebrated the
2003 basketball National championship while the other showed Otto with a lacrosse stick to honor 11 national championships of the
Syracuse Orange men's lacrosse team.
Mascot team There are a team of about 5-14 performers that dress as Otto; this team contains a mix of personalities and genders. As of 2023, over 100 Syracuse students have taken on the role of Otto, Similar body builds are required so not one Otto stands out; performers need to be in the desired height range of 5 feet and 5 inches, to 5 feet and 10 inches. The orange costume weighs about 10 pounds, In the 2022-23 school year, Otto appeared at over 800 on-campus and off-campus events – an increase of 100 than in 2019. ==Social media==