Saint Louis University mascot to get redesign after feedback

ST. LOUIS -- Saint Louis University says its mascot will undergo another redesign after the version that recently was unveiled was met with a less than enthusiastic response from students and alumni.

Some people felt the Billiken mascot had transitioned from lovable and happy to creepy. It was the first new mascot for the school in 20 years.

According to the Saint Louis University website, a Billiken is "a mythical good-luck figure who represents 'things as they ought to be.'"

University president Fred Pestello on Tuesday posted a video on Twitter announcing the mascot would have another makeover, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

"SLU has heard the comments from alumni and students who care about the Billiken," Pestello told the Post-Dispatch. "We are pursuing changes to the mascot. However, the award-winning new Billiken logo that debuted in November will remain unchanged."

The video Pestello filmed at the St. Louis Zoo served as the official statement. Pestello incorporated light humor, interviewing animals to pinpoint "ideal traits" for the mascot and deciding on lovable, popular, entertaining, competitive and unique.

Pestello said the video received a positive response, saying people "appreciate that we listened."

The president said last month students wanted a more aggressive-looking mascot that smiled and gave a wink, but perhaps the depiction was too accurate.

"It doesn't look like a Billiken anymore," SLU freshman Carolina Lopez said. "It looks like a mutated frog."

The revisions to the design haven't been determined yet, but Pestello said officials got a sense of what fans like and don't like.

"Hopefully we can let small children visit SLU without scaring them. #Billiken3.0," one person said on Twitter.

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com