Jefferson Debuts Its New-Look Mascot as Part of Bicentennial Celebration
Reimagined with the help of the brains behind the Phillie Phanatic and Gritty, Phil the Ram returns to center stage.
Met by a jubilant crowd in the Gallagher Center, Jefferson mascot Phil the Ram reemerged from a lengthy absence with a new-and-improved look.
“Phil is our identity in athletics,” says Tom Shirley, women’s basketball head coach and assistant vice president of athletics. “We are the Rams. If you say the Rams on the street, most people know that’s us, so I think our student-athletes enjoy that. Anytime there’s a visual presence of the Ram, it’s a special event. There’s been a void. Phil has been missed. The people who come to our athletic events will be glad to see Phil back.”
The original Phillie Phanatic and “mascot whisperer behind Gritty,” David Raymond helped to reimagine the character. His Raymond Entertainment Group designs, trains and guides new mascots onto the scene.
“To be connected to Jefferson and Phil the Ram has been a joyful time for me,” Raymond says. “Seeing Phil in his full form now is wonderful. I couldn’t have been more excited for the Jefferson community to meet him.”
The new Phil emerged at a March 5 pep rally to celebrate Jefferson’s Bicentennial and cheer on the women’s and men’s basketball teams before the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference playoffs. With shouts of “We Love Phil,” the crowd of students, faculty, staff and University leadership watched the Jefferson cheerleaders perform, waved cardboard Phil heads and snagged shirts fired from a T-shirt cannon.
“Phil represents strength and resilience,” says Dr. Susan Aldridge, the University’s interim president. “He’s a champion for our teams, for all of us, and he’s an ambassador to the community.”
See scenes from the Phil reveal and pep rally below. Photos by ©Thomas Jefferson University Photography Services and video by Chase Murphy, Travis Huhn and Evan Galiffa.
