Willie the Wildcat (Northwestern)

(Redirected from Northwestern's Willie the Wildcat) Not to be confused with Willie the Wildcat (Kansas State).

Willie the Wildcat
Willie the Wildcat in 2018
University	Northwestern University
Conference	Big Ten
Description	Anthropomorphic wildcat
First seen	1933

Willie the Wildcat is the mascot for the Northwestern Wildcats.

History

Willie the Wildcat

c. 2007

c. 1961

The name "Wildcats" was bestowed upon the university in 1924 by a writer for the Chicago Tribune who wrote that even in a loss to the University of Chicago Maroons, the Northwestern football players looked like "Wildcats had come down from Evanston." The name was so popular that university board members made "Wildcats" the official nickname just months later.

In 1933, the Northwestern athletic department and an advertising firm created the first image of Willie. However, he did not come to life until 1947, when members of the Alpha Delta fraternity dressed up as him during the Homecoming parade.

In 2007, the first football game revealed a new-look Willie after a "makeover".

Evanston Township High School, the largest public high school in Evanston, has Willie the Wildkit as its mascot, in direct relation to Northwestern.

References

Skjervem, M. & Reck, D. M. (2007). Wildcat Stuff Book for Peer Coordinators. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University.

Northwestern University

Located in: Evanston IL and various other locations

Academics

Research

Evanston Campus

Chicago Campus

Qatar Campus

Northwestern Qatar

Athletics

Teams	Baseball Men's Basketball Women's Basketball Field Hockey Football Women's Lacrosse Men's soccer Softball
Venues	Patten Gymnasium Rocky Miller Park Ryan Field Welsh–Ryan Arena
Related	Marching band Illinois football rivalry Willie the Wildcat

Media

Traditions

People

Founded: 1851
Students: 21,208
Endowment: 15 billion
Category

v t e Northwestern Wildcats football
Venues	Northwestern Field (1905–1925) Ryan Field (1926–2023) Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium (2024–2025)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois Michigan: George Jewett Trophy Notre Dame
Culture and lore	Willie the Wildcat "Go U Northwestern" Marching band 2006 Michigan State game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1876 1877–1881 1882 1883–1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

v t e Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Old Patten Gymnasium (1910–1940) Patten Gymnasium (1940–1952) Welsh–Ryan Arena (1952–present) Allstate Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Illinois
Culture & lore	"Go U Northwestern" Willie the Wildcat
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championship in bold

v t e Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball
Venues	Welsh–Ryan Arena (1975–present) Beardsley Gym (2017–18)
Culture & lore	History "Go U Northwestern" Willie the Wildcat
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e Mascots of the Big Ten Conference
No mascot (Illinois) No mascot (Indiana) Herky the Hawk (Iowa) Testudo (Maryland) Maize (Michigan) Sparty (Michigan State) Goldy Gopher (Minnesota) Herbie Husker / Lil' Red (Nebraska) Willie the Wildcat (Northwestern) Brutus Buckeye (Ohio State) The Oregon Duck (Oregon) Nittany Lion (Penn State) Boilermaker Special / Purdue Pete (Purdue) Sir Henry, the Scarlet Knight (Rutgers) Joe and Josephine Bruin (UCLA) Traveler (USC) Harry the Husky (Washington) Bucky Badger (Wisconsin)

Mascots of the Big Ten Conference

No mascot (Illinois)
No mascot (Indiana)
Herky the Hawk (Iowa)
Testudo (Maryland)
Maize (Michigan)
Sparty (Michigan State)
Goldy Gopher (Minnesota)
Herbie Husker / Lil' Red (Nebraska)
Willie the Wildcat (Northwestern)
Brutus Buckeye (Ohio State)
The Oregon Duck (Oregon)
Nittany Lion (Penn State)
Boilermaker Special / Purdue Pete (Purdue)
Sir Henry, the Scarlet Knight (Rutgers)
Joe and Josephine Bruin (UCLA)
Traveler (USC)
Harry the Husky (Washington)
Bucky Badger (Wisconsin)

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