This day in history: Yosef made App State’s official mascot

Jenna Guzman curated this story by Julia Lisa Starnes, which The Appalachian originally published Feb. 22, 1983.

A campus-wide Logo Committee recommended to the University this semester that an official mascot and logo be accepted.

The following items were accepted by the Administrative Cabinet: Yosef is the name of Appalachian’s mascot; we are the Mountaineers; our colors are black and gold.

All teams, men and women, will be referred to as the Mountaineers. There will be no distinction, such as the Mountaineers for the men’s teams and the Lady Apps for the women.

There will be a standardized Yosef who will be registered and copyrighted as Appalachian’s official trademark; his standard costume will be a black and gold plaid shirt, charcoal grey to black homespun trousers, and a black felt hat.

The Logo Committee felt the need for the recommendation because past Yosefs had not been copyrighted and were therefore available for use by the general public. Through the approval and copyright of Yosef, any party outside Appalachian State would have to pay royalties for its use.