Vanderbilt University has several unique qualities, including being a charter member of the Southeastern Conference and the league’s only private school.
Vanderbilt is also the only NCAA Division I institution to use Commodores as its nickname, and thus Mr. Commodore as its mascot. Despite its distinction as the smallest university in the SEC with an enrollment of less than 7,000 undergraduate students, Vandy has a passionate fan base that is crazy about their ‘Dores.
Let’s look at how Vanderbilt University came to be known as the Commodores.
Who (or What) Is the Vanderbilt Commodores’ Mascot?
Mr. Commodore, known affectionately as “Mr. C,” has been the mascot at Vanderbilt University since 1873. A two-time NCA (National Cheerleaders of America) Mascot National Champion, Mr. C is considered by many to be a jack-of-all-trades mascot and a master at all of them.
Though it has since been abolished, “Commodore” refers to a rank in the United States Navy that was below the ship’s admiral but above the ship’s captain at the time its use was terminated. It was the nickname of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the founder and first benefactor of the university that bears his name (more on him below).
Since the term “commodore” was used mostly in the latter half of the 1800s — and because it was then that Cornelius received his nickname — Vanderbilt’s mascot is always portrayed as a naval officer from that time period, complete with the proper facial hair, cutlass, and 19th Century naval regalia.
Mr. C’s current incarnation of the Commodore mascot made its debut in 2014.
Interestingly enough, Mr. C is quite the heartthrob. A 2021 survey conducted by Quality Logo Products, Inc. concluded that men found Mr. C to be the sexiest current mascot among FBS schools. The survey asked 1,266 people about the best, worst, creepiest, most offensive, sexiest, and least-sexy college mascots in America.
Why Is Vanderbilt the Commodores?
Cornelius Vanderbilt, known as “the Commodore,” provided a $1 million gift for the formation of Vanderbilt University in the spring of 1873. The gift he gave to endow and build the university was Vanderbilt’s only major philanthropy.
Vanderbilt was a steamship entrepreneur, a trade that commonly earned one at that time the nickname of “commodore.” At the time of the formation of the university, commodore was the highest rank in the United States Navy.
Fans often refer to Vanderbilt athletic teams as “Dores” or use the cheer “Go Dores!” when chanting from the stands.
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