Tony GorderEditor-in-Cheif

The Nameless No More contest to name SDSU’s long-eared mascot moves forward as everyone can now vote for the top six name submissions as chosen by the contest committee.

Students, alumni and friends of SDSU from as far as Afghanistan submitted 883 names for SDSU’s jackrabbit mascot, and the top six names have been chosen.

The top six finalists for the SDSU Alumni Association’s Nameless No More contest to name the mascot are: Briggs, Dakota Jack, Jack, Jax, JR and Stater.

Anyone can vote for one of the six names by going to namelessnomore.questionpro.com. Voting runs from Oct. 20 through Oct. 31, and the winner will be announced at the Jackrabbit Birthday Bash, Nov. 12 in The Union.

Each finalist name had multiple submissions, and Jack had the most with 89. A winner will be chosen at random from the winning name’s submitters, and he or she will receive a $250 SDSU Bookstore gift card.

A committee comprised of students, alumni, faculty, university officials and members of the Brookings community selected the six finalist names. The names were chosen on the basis of marketability, gender neutrality, and regional or historic ties to SDSU and South Dakota. Names also had to work with “The Jackrabbit” added to the end of the name.

Matt Fuks, SDSU Alumni Association president and CEO, said the 883 submissions were “far more than we expected.”

“The interest level was way up for this,” he said.

Last spring’s similar contest that coined the Back The Jacks Fridays name only received a little over 100 submissions, Fuks said.

The university believes that naming the mascot offers many opportunities.

“Giving him a name that everyone can rally behind is going to endear the rabbit and SDSU, which is what it represents,” Fuks said. “There’s just really some great opportunities to promote the mascot and make him a part of the university and state as a whole.”

#1.1717765:3119004038.png:RabbitBumMobile-2-BW.png:The Nameless No More contest has narrowed the mascot names to six choices: Briggs, Jack, Jax, Stater, Dakota Jack and JR.:File Photo