Not sure if this has been posted, so sorry if you've seen it before, but considering the week of KSU v. uk.....
Borrowed from a co-worker that got it from a friend's Facebook...
"The Historical Origins of the 'Jayhawk'"
"The jay hawk was actually the 2nd choice for the University of Kansas' mascot.
The first choice, while also a fictional bird, was more of a nod to the region's evolving biological diversity.
Newly arriving settlers to the Kansas Territories were often amazed at the abundance of what we refer to as 'barn swallows',
so much so that the area of what is today east-central Kansas was commonly referred to as 'swallow country'. As more and
more settlers moved to the area, so did their livestock, influencing the overall makeup of the region's animal population. One
settler of the time described this integration of the native and domesticated as 'a rainbow of diversity, with a flag of waiving
wheat and the song of the swallow and the crow of the rooster as its anthem.'
University of Kansas founders were taken by this description of Kansas and thought a representation of this sentiment would
be a good emblem for the University. So it was decided that the convergence of the rooster and swallow would from that
point on represent the University of Kansas.
They would forever be known as the Kansas Swallowcocks.
Unfortunately, the name wasn't greeted with the enthusiastic acceptance that university founders had hoped. Many inverted
the name and called them Cockswallows, or in the native vernacular, 'cock swallers'. Others became concerned over the
origins of the mascot, fearing a literal union of a cock and a swallow had indeed taken place. Still others feared the mascot
may be interpreted metaphorically in some way as an abomination to God.
However, the ultimate insult came when it was discovered that the much-celebrated swallows were not swallows at all, but
merely common blue jays, a mistake that in retrospect seems absurdly incomprehensible. Despite the obvious mis-identification,
raging debates ensued between university founders and the common, uneducated settlers. Fearing alienation and widespread
public backlash, university founders backed off their position and conceded that the grandiose swallow upon which they had
pinned their identity was, in fact, merely the common blue jay.
In the end, a compromise was agreed upon. At the suggestion of town elders it was decided that a virtual synonym of
'swallow cock' would be the official mascot of the university, and the 'jayhawk' was adopted.
Even though the modern-era mascot bears little resemblance to the founders' original selection, it still strongly represents their vision for the university and the town of Lawrence as a whole.
What today is called a jayhawk, is still clearly a rainbow-flag waiving, cockswallowing, beacon of ignorance and ironic arrogance."
