Nickname, Logo, and Mascot
The athletic teams of Lehigh (founded in 1865) were known as the Engineers until the 1995-1996 academic year. Some believe that this nickname was a reference to the Lehigh Valley Railroad, not to the school's academic engineering program. However, there was also a logo of a giant Lehigh Engineer looking through a surveyor's transit while an airliner flew over him and a diesel passenger train steamed beneath his feet in use at Lehigh during the 1950s and 60s. As the university expanded following the advent of coeducation in 1971, while the number of engineering students remained steady, the percentage of students enrolled in engineering declined from 50% to about 30%. As a result, during the school's 1988 appearance in the men's NCAA basketball tournament, TV commentators were encouraged to refer to the school by its colors, Brown and White.
Beginning in the 1980s and until 1995, the team used a logo of a train locomotive with an "L" on the front. In November 1995, the school introduced the Mountain Hawk as a mascot, replacing the "L train", which stemmed from a popular, student-based movement to come up with a suitable mascot; the Mountain Hawk was officially voted in as the new mascot by the Lehigh Student Senate soon after. Controversy arose the following year, when the school's nickname was changed to the Mountain Hawks. Many alumni and students, including various members of Lehigh's Marching 97, still object, though the school's athletes were cited as being strong supporters of this change. The school still lists all three nicknames (Engineers, Brown & White, and Mountain Hawks) in its media guides. In November 2008, just before the 144th game against Lafayette, the mascot was given the name "Clutch." The name was chosen after a long contest of name suggestions and voting.
Read more about this topic: Lehigh Mountain Hawks