Louie The Laker - History

History

With the first three men's teams (Golf, Basketball, Tennis) entering intercollegiate athletics, Grand Valley State College asked the general public for help in 1965 while looking for an official mascot to represent the school. Before entering official sports competition, Grand Valley's teams were unofficially known as the Bruisers because of the blue, black, and white color scheme. GVSC's United College Organization (UCO) selected six finalists submitted by the public for the official mascot to be selected by an overall student vote. The names chosen were the Bruisers, Warriors, Bluejays, Ottawas, Archers, and Voyagers. After a seven hour vote, Grand Valley students selected a late write-in vote submitted by sophomore Annie Kate McDonald from Grand Haven, Michigan. Students voted the dark-horse candidate, Lakers, as the official name over the six options proposed by UCO. After all the votes had been gathered, the write-in name Lakers finished 11 votes ahead of second place Voyagers.

In 1996, athletic director Tim Selgo and Rob 'Odie' Odejewski came together to develop an official name and character to represent the GVSU Lakers. Prior to the idea to develop an official character for the mascot, the Lakers were represented by the Old Man and the Sea costume in the early 1990s as well as various other nautical themed mascots in the 70's and 80's. Selgo and Odejewski came up with the idea to officially name the mascot "Louie" and were encouraged by, then Vice President for Finance and Administration, Ron VanSteeland to brand the character to be the face of Laker sports. Since his inception, Louie the Laker has been the subject to some minor alterations but still remains one of the most visible identities for Grand Valley and its athletic programs. Louie the Laker's appearance was loosely based on Louis VanTressel—a fallen oiler aboard the legendary S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald.