2005 Media Guide - UMKC Athletics

2005 UMKC Volleyball
History of the Kangaroo
What do the The Kansas City
Star, Walt Disney and the
Kansas
City Zoo
have in
common
All are
pieces to
a puzzle
concerning
the
question,
“How in
the world
did UMKC
pick a
Kangaroo
as its
mascot”
T h e
Kangaroo
issue was
f i r s t
brought
up in 1936
when the
editors of the University (then
named the Kansas City
University) newspaper decided it
was time to find a mascot for, of
all things, the debate team.
There were no organized
University athletics teams at the
time, yet the students on the
newspaper staff still wanted a
unique identity for their debate
team and, more importantly, their
school.
The fire was lit later that year
when an article appeared in The
Kansas City Star titled “The
Kangaroo May Go to KCU...
Student Editors Believe
University Should Have Symbol.”
Interest in the mascot was also
spurred by the Kansas City Zoo’s
purchase of two baby kangaroos
at about that same time and the
subsequent publicity generated
by the Kangaroo nearly suffered
a quick demise in 1937 when the
editors of the University yearbook
The Crategus decided that
a kangaroo was not an appropriate
university symbol. They
opted to delete the proposed
kangaroo emblem from the yearbook’s
feature section but supporters
of the mascot began a
vocal attack.
Just as the criticism began to
mount and support for the kangaroo
was beginning to wane,
famed cartoonist Walt Disney
came to the rescue. In April
1937, a leading KCU political
group, the CO-OP Party, won a
landslide election with “Kasey
the Kangaroo” as its insignia.
“Kasey”, the group stated fit KC.
The same month, the
first issue of the KCU
humor magazine The
Kangaroo was published.
Six months after
the first kangaroo
appeared on the cover,
another kangaroo was
featured, this time
alongside Mickey
Mouse. The artist of
this drawing was the
famous Disney, and
support for the kangaroo
mounted. In a matter
of a few years, the
Crateegus folded and
the Kangaroo became the
school’s yearbook.
Over the years, the Kangaroo
went through numerous changes
and refinements before a final
edition was agreed upon via a
"The Kangaroos" is a unique nickname, and
UMKC shares it with a slight few.
special committee appointed by
then-chancellor Randall Whaley.
The athletics department introduced
a new set of marks in
November, 2004, working with
Plan B. Branding of San Diego,
Calif., to create the identity.
The Kangaroo is a unique nickname,
and the UMKC shares it
with a slight few. Just one other
college in the nation uses
“Kangaroos” as its nickname
(Austin College in Sherman,
Texas) and one other uses the
kangaroo as its mascot (Akron
Zips).
20 UMKC Volleyball • u m k c k a n g a r o o s . c o m