Following the mascot change, Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s president, Marcus Jones, reveals himself as the face behind Vic the Demon.
NSU’s mascot was established in 1923 via an open contest to submit mascot ideas. Students and faculty of NSU suggested several ideas with the popular vote ruling between the Braves and the Demons. The presidential committee then narrowed down the options to officially name all NSU athletic teams as the Demons.
Later in 1984, another contest opened to give a name to NSU’s Demon mascot. Over 300 entries from students and faculty were submitted with the winner being Ray Carney, alumnus of NSU, with a name short for the word “Victory”: Vic the Demon.
Since the beginning vote and Vic’s initial creation, members of the Natchitoches community have protested the idea of a Demon mascot. Via social media or word of mouth, community members have alluded to claims that NSU supports demonic morals.
Karen Smith, Natchitoches community member you can typically find asking for the manager at Chili’s, expresses her contest to the Demon mascot.
“I’ve always hated that name, have said that for years,” Smith said. “I do not like the mascot and refuse to purchase anything that is related to Northwestern because of the awful mascot.”
Smith had no further suggestions for alternative mascots.
“If I don’t like it then I don’t like it, I shouldn’t have to think about it, Demons are bad,” Smith said.
John Smith, Karen’s lawyer husband who’s still married to her solely due to fear of their prenup, was dragged to the interview to express his opinion.
“Karen told me to tell you that if she doesn’t want the mascot to be a Demon then that needs to be changed and I support whatever she wants,” Smith said.
Kaylen Anthony, current student of NSU, shares his opinion on the Demon controversy.
“People always say ‘Change it’ this, ‘Demons are bad’ that, but then they never say what it should be instead or have a valid reason, hush up really quick,” Anthony said.
Rebecca Thompson, recent alumnus of NSU, addressed the religious perspective of the controversy.
“I understand the religious context so I can see where people are coming from but not everything needs to be made religious,” Thompson said. “I’m a Christian but I still love my cutie patootie Vic, how could you not?”
Thompson expressed her love for Vic a little too deeply, almost a concerning amount, but remained valid.
“I just love, love, love him, I genuinely don’t know what I’d do without him, he’s my everything, Vic deserves all the warmth and light of this world,” Thompson said.
Thompson quickly snapped back to reality and shared a normal liking to Vic.
“Until we see NSU actually doing anything demonic then I’d like to hear just one person explain what makes Vic demonic,” Thompson said. “If you have a problem with the mascot being a demon then mind your business and don’t go to the school.”
After years of facing this controversy, NSU has officially changed its mascot from the Demons to the Northwestern State Tweety Birds.
Anthony shares his opinion on NSU’s new mascot, the Tweety Bird.
“What y’all expect? Y’all thought we would get something better than my boy Vic? Nah, now look at you.. a tweety bird,” Anthony said.
President Jones speaks on his farewell to Vic the Demon.
“Now that we are no longer the Demons, I feel as though it’s only right for students to know the truth, yes, it was me behind the mask,” Jones said.
He expands on the details of living a double life as President by day and Mascot by another day.
“It was definitely quite a bit to handle at times, especially when it came to keeping it a secret,” Jones said. “Being in that suit, taking pictures with prospective students, running across the field at football games, stuff like that, the memories made it all worth it.”
After dedicating so much to Vic, President Jones shares an understanding that the choice to remove NSU’s Demon mascot was in the best interest of the institution.
“I put a lot of energy into Vic so of course I’ll always have a special place in my heart for him, but this was a decision made by the institution, for the institution to strengthen our community,” Jones said.
President Jones explains the process which the administration went through to change the NSU Mascot.
“Well, it was a decision that was never made, NSU is not and never should be the tweety birds,” Jones said. “This is an April Fools article so Happy April Fools NSU and as always, Fork em’ Demons!”
This article was such a pleasure to write but please remain informed that all quotes are loosely based on Facebook posts and previous conversations. All information and people mentioned in this article are not real or were not actually interviewed. I hope you enjoyed and Happy April Fools!
