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MCC Photo Archives |
| An artist sketches the current mascot of Mesa Community College, the Thunderbird. According to American Indian mythology, the thunderbird causes lightning and thunder. |
Ancient tribe gave legacy to campus, Valley
Dalton Walker
Mesa Legend
Before the Thunderbird, there was the HoKam.
The HoKam was the first mascot the students chose to identify Mesa Community College, according to F. Rockne “Roc” Arnett.
Arnett was the first student president of MCC in 1963, when MCC was considered an extension of Phoenix College, and is currently the president of the East Valley Partnership.
Arnett, 40 years later, still likes the name HoKam and was surprised by the name change but he said he understands the name HoKam might be offensive to some people in today’s day and age.
Arnett said the student government wanted to admire the Hohokam people by selecting HoKam as the official mascot. The colors red and blue were selected as the school colors.
“We wanted an Indian mascot, but we didn’t want to use Indians or Chiefs,” Arnett said. “The Hohokams were native peoples living in the area.”
Hohokam is the traditional spelling of the indigenous people who dwelled in Central Arizona centuries ago. Arnett cut out some letters to form the mascot’s name.
Even though the mascot was changed in 1974 to the Thunderbird, the American Indian link still exists. A Thunderbird is a bird that causes lightning and thunder in American Indian myth.
The reason for the change, according Marcy Snitzer, coordinator of Alumni Relations, was at the time many schools with Native American nicknames were selecting different mascots to represent the school.
The school colors and MCC sports colors are not entirely the same, according to Snitzer.
Some examples could be the white and red basketball jerseys that have only a tinge of blue or the football players wearing all blue football pants.
Betty O’Neill began working for MCC 30 years ago, which was the same year MCC changed their nickname to the Thunderbird. She said she could not recall any type of rebel for the HoKam mascot.
MCC’s school newspaper was first named the Cub Reporter in 1963. The paper operated when the Southern and Dobson campus was not yet built, and the college was operating as an extension of Phoenix College.
The name was changed shortly after in 1964 to the Hokam Legend to fit with the school’s mascot. However, because of problems with the word ‘HoKam’ in the title, it was dropped in 1969 and the newspaper became the Mesa Legend.
The Hohokam is still used to represent school and other organizations today.
The Chicago Cubs have spring training at Hohokam Park in Mesa, and there is also an elementary school in Scottsdale by the name of Hohoka. In addition, Highway 143 is named the Hohokam Expressway.
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