Originally named St. Vincent's College, DePaul University was founded in 1898 by the Congregation of the Mission priests and brothers, known as the Vincentians. DePaul University takes its name from the 17th-century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul. Over time this university has evolved and in 1998, it became the largest Catholic university by enrollment in the United States. The official mascot of DePaul University is a blue demon. This one question of how a demon correlates with a Catholic school is most likely striking you. Yes, you read that correctly. As the nations largest Catholic school in terms of enrollment, the mascot of DePaul University is a blue demon. How come that is the case? Enjoy this quick story of how the blue demon became to be known as the official mascot of DePaul University.
Before I begin, I would love to say how as a past orientation leader for this university, I have received this question numerous times. I have enjoyed educating people on this story and I find it rewarding when people start to understand more about the universities history. The story begins with how DePaul in its early days only had men sports teams. Women were not given the right to play sports in the early 20th century. That just proves how men have been given much better treatment in history. When the fans at sporting events would cheer for their team they would often shout out 'go D-men' or something along the lines of 'you got this D-men!' The letter 'd' meant DePaul and the men symbolize the men playing the sports. These phrases that were cheered by the fans had a direct message to the men who were playing their sports. The university at that time did not have a mascot so the term 'D-men' evolved into the infamous mascot of the blue demon. Then the rest is history.
This fun story is something I enjoy to tell since I am passionate on DePaul University. Now, the mascot is known as DIBS or the demon in a blue suit. You can often see DIBS at sporting events and other large scale on campus activities. I hope you learned something new on how the mascot of DePaul was choose and how ironic it is to have a demon mascot in the nations largest Catholic school.
