The Titan is the official team mascot for the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. The university adopted the Titan in 1937. In Greek mythology, Titans were strong giants who were children of Uranus and Gaea and ruled the Earth until they were overthrown by the younger Olympian gods.

Team name origin

Oshkosh State Teachers College did not have a nickname for its athletics teams until it adopted the Titans nickname in 1937. The name was selected through a student-wide naming contest held by the Advance campus newspaper. The October 6, 1937 issue announced a "Thrilling new contest" to name the school football team. The name needed to have a fighting quality, adapt to songs and cheers, and be unique to the geographic area. The Advance received 68 entries. Thomas Lynch '40 of Fond du Lac was declared the winner in the October 20 issue. Lynch received $5 for his submission.

School song

In 1938, music professor James A. Breese wrote a fight song that embraced the university's newly-adopted Titans nickname, titled "Hail Titans." The lyrics are: 

Hail Titans, Hail Titans 
Sons strong and mighty of the OTC 
Hail Titans Hail Titans 
Titans bring victory 
Let's go charging down the field 
Fighting Titans never yield 
For the gold and the white 
We will fight fight fight u-rah-rah

Note: Line #2 changed over time to OSC and UWO.

Tommy Titan

Tommy Titan, a university emblem of a male college student with a light-colored buzz cut and a sweater, debuted in 1954. Shirley Weber '54 created Tommy Titan for Wisconsin State College Oshkosh's Quiver yearbook, according to the May 5 issue of the Advance. The article stated Tommy Titan would be sold on luggage stickers at the campus store for 10 cents or two stickers for 15 cents (see the bottom of this page for the article). During homecoming that year Radford Hall students displayed a Tommy Titan lawn decoration as part of the spirit week, but he now had a dark buzz cut and tank top, according to a photo in the October 16 issue of the Oshkosh Northwestern (see the bottom of this page for the photo).

To what degree the human Tommy Titan representation was used after 1954 is a mystery, but written records show that the Tommy Titan name continued to be used for more than two decades. It is unknown then whether a) the human Tommy Titan character continued through the 1950s and 1960s, b) a new character emerged that continued using the same name, or c) the phrase Tommy Titan went on to transcend a physical character and instead refer to the idea of team spirit.

Disinterest in the Titans name

By the mid-1960s, a number of Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh students were expressing dissatisfaction with the Titan name and team colors, according to the November 11, 1966 Advance. The Student Government Legislature planned a December referendum to ask students whether the university should pick a new team name. Mascot Committee Chairman Buz Barlow announced in a letter to the editor in the December 2 Advance that there was "an increasing interest within the WSU-O student body to change the school nickname." But by the December 9 issue, Barlow was quoted as saying that changing the team name not be the best idea, and the committee would call off the referendum and instead have art students create a Titan mascot costume.

The Titans name prevails

The Advance student newspaper renamed itself The Advance-Titan on October 26, 1967 in response to the university retaining the Titan nickname. As the newspaper explained a week later in the November 2 issue, the publication committee had approved the name change to The Advance-Titan in 1966, but then the Student Government Legislature raised the possibility of adopting a new nickname, so the publication waited until the debate was settled. The word Advance was kept in the title to maintain a part of the newspaper's traditional name.

A new and unofficial "Tommy Titan" mascot costume debuted at the October 21, 1967 homecoming football game against St. Norbert College. The redesigned mascot sported a Greek mythology-inspired look, with a golden helmet and sword. The design was created by art students and Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh alumni, who built the four-foot Titan head to be worn by a student at sporting events. The costume is not seen in photos after the early 1970s; perhaps its condition deteriorated from all the activity at sporting events.

After the end of the costumed mascot, the name Tommy Titan disappeared from the Advance-Titan by the late 1970s.

And since that time students occasionally commented on the lack of a school mascot in the Advance-Titan.

• A December 8, 1999 article titled "Cheering on the Titans" quoted a student who believed the university needed a costumed mascot at sporting events to increase excitement.
• A satirical article in the April 3, 1992 Advance-Titan joked that the school hired a middle-aged man to run around in a bronze-armored skirt and sandals at sporting events as a new mascot named Terry Titan.
• An advertisement in the January 31, 2001 Advance-Titan, which appears to be placed as a joke, states "NOW HIRING-MASCOT! UW-Oshkosh is looking for a creative and energetic person to pose as a Titan for upcoming games and local appearances (sic). Actually, we are just looking for anyone who knows what a Titan is or how to depict such a creature." (The advertisement appears alongside a real advertisement for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers minor league baseball team also titled "NOW HIRING-MASCOT!")

Official Titans symbol designed

A marketable UW Oshkosh Titans logo debuted in October 2004 to be used on the university's athletic uniforms and merchandise. The logo spent more than a year in development, according to the October 22, 2004 UW Oshkosh News Bulletin newsletter.

Bruce Mickelson '95 designed it on behalf of JanSport in Appleton. The Titan head follows the university's black and gold color scheme. A thunderbolt on top of the character's head references Prometheus, the Titan who brought fire to humanity in Greek mythology. Former Chancellor Richard Wells told the UW Oshkosh News Bulletin, "The logo represents not only our athletic excellence, but also the intellectual fire we seek to instill in our students."

Clash the Titan

The university and the Oshkosh Northwestern turned to the community in 2009 to help name the new mascot. The final four options that were put to a community vote were:

• 1. Clash
• 2. Lightning
• 3. Bolt
• 4. Caosh (a combination of "Chaos" and "Oshkosh")

Clash won the vote, and Wells announced the name during the 2009 homecoming football game against UW Stevens Point. Clash's image is used regularly in the University's marketing, and a student actor regularly wears the Clash costume at sporting events and community functions. Two Clash costumes exist with variations in his appearance.

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