Rockingham Times

It’s always LYNX season at NHTI – Concord’s Community College, and now the college’s mascot, Leroy the Lynx, is sporting a new design courtesy of a current NHTI Visual Arts program student. Dubbed “Leroy’s New Look,” the new design was revealed Feb. 1, 2023, with a ceremony before doubleheader NHTI basketball games.

Leroy’s look was created by NHTI Visual Arts student Valerie Deforge and represents the natural evolution of NHTI’s lynx mascot with bold lines, fresh colors, and expressive motion that really jumps out at the audience. In a campus-wide vote conducted in November 2022, more than 60% of the 650+ votes cast chose Deforge’s design.

“NHTI has filled many decades with stellar traditions and a reputation for academic excellence,” says new NHTI President Dr. Patrick Tompkins. “We’re thrilled to usher in this new era at NHTI with this modern Leroy the Lynx.”

The college began this mascot redesign in Summer 2022 as part of a project to refinish the gym floor in the Dr. Goldie Crocker Wellness Center. The marketing department worked in close collaboration with NHTI’s Athletics and Student Senate to recruit several student artists to redesign Leroy in ways that reflected their visions and experiences of NHTI and the achievements of NHTI’s championship student athletes. The 9 submitted designs articulated what these students wanted their new lynx to look like and how they wanted to be represented.

The official vote involved the NHTI’s campus community of students, alumni, faculty, and staff. It was also broadcast to all students via NHTI’s new AI chatbot, which embodies the personality of Leroy the Lynx.

“Our new design pays homage to our historical Leroy the Lynx and evolves us into the modern era of collegiate community and competition,” says Amber Gavriluk, NHTI’s marketing officer. “Leroy represents the new rallying point around which our students, faculty, and staff can feel belonging in our diverse community. And this new design offers a strong brand identity and personality that can lead us boldly into the future.”

As part of the campus-wide rollout, NHTI will replace previous mascot designs with the new Leroy over the next year. T-shirts, in addition to the free ones given out at the game, will be available in the Campus Bookstore, located in the Learning Common Library building, before the end of the Spring 2022 semester. Stickers are available in the Marketing and Athletics offices on campus. To pay homage to the past, the NHTI Athletics and Marketing departments are designing a time line wall that features the college’s history of mascots dating from when teams were known as the NHTI Capitols through today. This installation is planned for the lobby of the Dr. Goldie Crocker Wellness Center by Fall 2023.

For additional questions and official digital versions of the new mascot logo, email agavriluk@ccsnh.edu.

Original source can be found here.