A musketeer was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare, particularly in Europe…

(12-11-24) On Monday, Cheatham (Tn) Middle School announced the school’s new mascot – Musketeer.

After UC threatened legal action, Tennessee middle school rebrands to ‘Musketeers’

WLWT

Cheatham County Athletic Director Jeff Hobbs told WLWT –

“We are proud, we are honored to say that we have chosen the Musketeer as the new mascot that will take us into the future.

The community near Xavier really gravitated to this. It was kind of a fun, playful suggestion for our new mascot. While we all had a good laugh about it and really respected the rivalry that comes along with it. The more we dove in deep to the idea and the meaning of what a Musketeer is. You know, the slogan: ‘All for one, one for all.’ When you really dug down to the definition of a Musketeer and how, just that side-by-side next to my brother, the all for one.

It’s nothing that is going to happen overnight. We’re making sure that our school and our community know that it is a slow process. Unfortunately, we can’t snap our fingers tomorrow and have everything fixed or changed.”

One reminder of the Cincinnati Bearcat mascot will remain….the school colors will remain as ‘red and black‘. Apparently UC does not have ‘exclusive rights‘ on the school colors.

Xavier University is behind the school in adopting the Musketeer mascot. Anthony Breen, a Xavier grad, and his company, Synergistics, has offered to help to foot the rebranding bill.

Breen….

Anthony founded Synergistic in 2018 with two employees and today it’s grown to a team of 30 people with multiple departments, recognized annually on the Inc. 5000 List – the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing private companies. Anthony’s leadership has shaped Synergistic into a leading Advertising and Marketing company, an exponential growth driver that’s relentlessly focused on results.

Hobbs told WLWT that Synergistics is just as excited as the school is –

“They’ve bought in and they’re excited about who they’re doing this for. And it’s those children and a Title I school in a rural county outside of Nashville. They’ve really grabbed on and gravitated to the actual people they’re doing this for.”

Did you know….

UC celebrated joining the Big 12 on July 1, 2023.

The Big 12 added a six-year extension for $2.28 billion which runs through 2030-31. The deal with ESPN and Fox has an annual average of $380 million per year and is projected to pay each school $31.7 million. Translated, UC has quadrupled what they were earning in the AAC, Cincinnati.com reported.

RELATED: University of Cincinnati Sends Cease And Desist Order To Tennessee Middle School

UC statement from November-

“Just as many other universities and recognizable brands make significant investment to protect their own marks, we reserve the right for exclusive use of the UC marks. We understand this may cause some inconveniences, but we have a responsibility to preserve and protect the University’s rights to its marks.”

Bearcats around the USA

So what will the University of Cincinnati do now that it knows that numerous schools use the ‘Bearcat‘ mascot.