Tech 'College Colors Day' Aug. 30 also celebrates 100 years of Golden Eagles
Golden Eagles wear their purple and gold to cheer on classmates at Tech's 2023 homecoming
parade.
Cue the Cyndi Lauper song “True Colors” and don your purple and gold because Aug.
30 is College Colors Day.
The annual festivity celebrates collegiate fandom nationwide and returns to Tennessee
Tech University as its 2024 college football season kicks off. Golden Eagle fans from
coast to coast are encouraged to put on their favorite Tennessee Tech attire that
day to showcase how the sport brings people together.
The Golden Eagles football season starts the following day with an away game at Middle
Tennessee State University.
“This year’s College Colors Day theme is ‘Don’t Miss the Moment,’ which fits nicely
with our own special celebration this year commemorating 100 years of being the Golden
Eagles,” said Bobbie Maynard, associate vice president for communications and marketing
at Tech. “We encourage Golden Eagle fans to boldly show their support and passion
for our sports teams and the university by wearing purple and gold – and for such
a momentous anniversary, the more retro or creative Tech-related apparel, the better!”
Created by the university’s licensing partner, CLC, College Colors Day unites Tennessee
Tech fans across the country in showing their passion, spirit and joy of supporting
the Golden Eagles. Fans are invited to share photos and videos on social media of
them wearing their Tech gear and showing how they celebrated the day using #CollegeColorsDay.
Tennessee Tech’s Athletic Association officially adopted Tech's moniker as the Golden
Eagles at a meeting in 1925 that went through three rounds of selection before a deciding
vote of 139 to 18. It beat out other potential options such Tech Warriors, Mountain
Eagles and Lions.
According to Tech history and legend, the name was suggested and chosen over the other
options because of four such eagles said to have soared over campus on clear afternoons
for many years. In a 1988 column recounting the naming process, The Oracle campus newspaper – which also celebrated its centennial over the past year – said
one of the eagles allegedly perched on the library tower, “leaving no doubt about
the choice of a name.”
Over the years, the Golden Eagle mascot has gone through several iterations, with
the first ones simply being students who charismatically embodied Tech pride. It wasn’t
until the 1960s that Tech saw its first costumed mascot, and it was upgraded in the
mid-1970s to Evil Eagle, or Evel Eagle, known for daring motorcycle stunts like his
namesake Evel Knievel.
The university's current Awesome Eagle was hatched from the imagination of a chemistry
student, Olan Kemp, who entered a contest hosted by the Associated Student Body, now
the Student Government Association. The most modern version of Awesome Eagle emerged
in the 1990s, like a chick from an egg, when a truck delivered a box to the football
field and he burst from it in front of an audience of adoring fans.
As for the colors purple and gold, they are a nod to the prevalence of goldenrod and
ironweed plants that grow in the area.
CLC representatives said they are “excited to celebrate another fun College Colors
Day alongside partner universities and all college sports fans to kick off the fall
sports season.”
Maynard agreed, saying, “As we celebrate 100 years of the Golden Eagles, College Colors
Day is just one way to honor the legacy of the Tech students who have come and gone,
the community that has supported them and still supports them, and the spirit of pride
that continues to thrive here."
Following the opener at MTSU, the Golden Eagles will head to Georgia on Sept. 7 before
returning to Cookeville on Sept. 21 for their home opener against Tennessee State
University.
Season tickets for Tennessee Tech football are on sale now. Call (931) 372-3940, visit
the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office or visit TTUsports.com.
