William Penn Statesman – No. 703

The William Penn Statesmen mascot, Willy P., is NAIA pixel art mascot #2. William Penn University, located in Oskaloosa, Iowa, used Statesmen as both the nickname and mascot for its athletic teams from 1959-2000. In 2000, then-University President Thomas Boyd (1998-2003) donated a 400-pound bronze eagle sculpture and mandated a controversial transition to an eagle as the school’s mascot. Curiously, the Statesmen nickname was retained despite the eagle mascot. In 2011, eight years after Boyd’s departure, Elvis the eagle mascot was retired and a more traditional statesman mascot was reintroduced. (View reference images.)

My mom and stepdad have worked for William Penn University for many years. Being from Pennsylvania, I always found it strange that my mom managed to find the one school in Iowa that was named after the same wealthy Quaker guy who founded Pennsylvania. I took art classes at William Penn during high school and later remotely served as their webmaster from 2000-2003 (partly while attending Penn State University, oddly enough). So many Penns!