Delta State University - Mascots

Mascots

Delta State has two mascots (one official, one unofficial). Since its inception, Delta State's sports teams have officially been known as the Statesmen because of the role State Rep. Walter Sillers, Jr. played in the location of the school in Cleveland. Sillers was speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives for 20 years. The female teams are called the Lady Statesmen.

However, since the late 1980s, the student body has embraced a mascot that depicts a piece of okra (a fruit) wearing boxing gloves and brandishing a fierce expression. The "Fighting Okra" grew out of humor among students about the improbability that anyone would find a "Statesman" particularly frightening. In the mid-1990s, a student vote was taken, resulting in the university taking on "The Fighting Okra" as an unofficial mascot. The "Fighting Okra" was featured in the "Okraphobia" episode of the Food Network show Good Eats.

The popularity of "The Fighting Okra" grew so much that many myths started on how the mascot came to be, the most popular of these stating there was a stubborn okra plant at first base on the baseball field that grew back every time it was cut. The true origin of the fighting okra mascot was a discussion between basketball and baseball players in the "Court of Governors" dormitory. Basketball player Houston Williamson was lamenting the fact that "Fighting Statesmen" was not particularly frightening to their opponents. All present agreed that an alternate mascot would have to be mean and green. After a lively discussion and many suggestions, baseball pitcher Bob Black suggested that okra was green, fuzzy and tough. The DSU baseball team began using the chant "Okra! Okra! Okra! Okra!" at DSU basketball games.

The "Fighting Okra" mascot is an illustration of a generational divide in comic sensibilities. Many older alumni find the Okra embarrassing and inappropriate, while younger alums find that it appeals to their sense of irony and their taste for absurd humor.