Bye-Bye Birdie?

“They are so arrogant and uppity.” 

Rick Reed, Resident of Osceola 

Photo by Kansas Jayhawk Mascot Alumni  

Little Osceola, Missouri (population 781) has a big demand for the University of Kansas: say bye-bye birdie to the Jayhawk mascot. The use of the name “Jayhawk” has ruffled the feathers of town leaders, and the reason goes back 150 years. During the Civil War, a band of marauders known as jayhawkers crossed the border from Kansas into Missouri and went on a two-day rampage, destroying the town, looting property, and executing a dozen men in the town square. Folks in Osceola can’t forget and won’t forgive the University of Kansas for making light of the Jayhawk name with its mascot. Townspeople don’t really think the university will drop the Jayhawk mascot, but it’s the principle, they say. That’s the same reason they fired off a resolution calling on Missourians to stop spelling Kansas with a capital “K,” arguing Kansas is neither a proper name nor a proper place.

Read the article → Town seeks end of ‘Jayhawk’ name