50 Year Club Case Features Bachelor

This year’s case features the Bachelor mascot. At a popular event called Saturnalia in 1953, the student body overwhelmingly approved a new mascot for Rensselaer, the Bachelor. The Transit stated that the little man “is instantly associated with the Institute, its students, and its teams.”

Created by Dick Becker ’54, shown here beside the display case, the Bachelor had a short career. The growing number of women in the student body and the media’s continued use of the term “engineers” to identify teams soon reduced the miniature gent’s popularity. The little guy lived on in the title of the campus humor magazine until the early 1970s.

A committee of the 50 Year Club oversees the creation of the display. This year’s chair was Harry “Bud” Hovey ’52. Other members were Bob Hatch ’53 and Garry Geurtze ’54. The case is researched and created by Carl Westerdahl, former director of alumni relations and dean of students.