Greatest of All Time or Just A Goat? Hopkins Debates Its New Mascot

One tradition created by the Goat Herd is the “graduating of goats,” in which senior volunteers are revealed to the student body at the end of the year. On May 18th, graduating volunteers received  service medals for their time spent volunteering as the goat. And, in the fall, there will be a call for new volunteers willing to devote time to bringing the mascot to life. With these new changes, the Goat Herd hopes to grow spirit on campus and encourage more students to support each other at events. In establishing the “secret society” of anonymous volunteers who bring the goat mascot to life, Assistant Director of Communications Jemma Williams has also taken on the responsibility of training these individuals to guide others who are inside of the costume. Training includes learning how to be the goat’s handler — leading whoever is inside of the costume around, and making sure they don’t get hurt. The wearer cannot see or hear much, primarily due to the structural design of the costume. The Goat Herd now brings the mascot to sports games, assemblies, and community gatherings across campus.

At a varsity basketball game this season, audience member Alora Hanson ’29 stated that the mascot has brought a really big level of energy and hype to games because it “brings everyone together in a really wholesome way.” Similarly, the Boys Varsity Basketball coach Dennis Kelly explained that the mascot creates a “shared identity” among players and students during games. He remarked that players bring energy regardless of the audience size, but still emphasized how “the crowd and mascot provide added inspiration and spirit.” Another first-year student and lacrosse player, Briar Scannell ’29 reflected that during her campaign for Student Council, she advocated for more sports-related activities because of the way athletics brings together the student body. She believes that the Goat Herd will rally more students to games because “the more that they do with it, the better … it definitely creates more spirit,”

Beyond athletics, coaches have shared that they believe the mascot plays an important role in representing the Hopkins community. Leonti Dailis, the Girls Rowing Coach, described the mascot as a representation of “students and school life,” bringing together not only athletics but the student body as a whole. Together, these perspectives suggest that the mascot has become more than a symbol for sports teams, but also a representation of school spirit and Hopkins pride. However, while supporters see the mascot as a unifying symbol, others remain critical of the redesign.

Although the recent revival has made it more visible within Hopkins life, students and faculty have mixed opinions about how it should represent the school. Natalie Billings ’27 shared that the goat logo looked “a little dorky” and that “Hopkins should have had our talented student artists work together to make the logo.” She believes that this approach would have allowed students to get more involved in school spirit. This view was echoed by several others. For example, athlete Austin Madden ’26 added that “I've definitely been annoyed that I'm forced to have a logo that I personally don't like.” These perspectives on the new logo and design of the Hopkins mascot have come up commonly throughout the student body, highlighting ongoing debate surrounding the goat’s redesign for team uniforms.

These redesigns were inspired by the history of the Hopkins mascot, in order to create a new culture around school pride that incorporates fresh ideas. In the 1980s, Hopkins history teacher Thom Peters brought a goat to a homecoming event. This inspired a physical mascot costume; a romper with a goat head, which was worn by students and staff at sports games. Williams remarked at how the older costume never had a real purpose: “Before this, being the mascot was never really formalized. It was basically, ‘Here’s a dusty old costume in the cage — take it whenever you want.’” Now, the Communications team is attempting to bridge the gap between Hopkins history and a newer, recognizable goat mascot. “We wanted to create a recognizable symbol for the community,” Williams said. 

As the Goat Herd continues to grow, organizers hope the mascot will become a more prominent part of Hopkins life. As a last note, Williams noted that there have been challenges, and there is still room for growth, but the ultimate goal is to “help grow spirit on campus and encourage more students to support each other at events” and they believe that this is achievable. And although students and faculty continue to debate how the mascot should represent the school, the growing effort behind this new program shows a broader attempt to balance Hopkins traditions with new forms of school spirit.