Before the Phoenix, Elon's mascot was the "Fighting Christian." In the 1970s, a homemade version of Elon's mascot was often seen at the college's football games, worn by a local Elon College fan.
With the unveiling of the university’s new Phoenix mascot, it is a good opportunity to look back at a homemade version of Elon’s previous mascot, the Fighting Christian. Before the Phoenix was adopted as Elon’s official mascot in 2000, there was the Fighting Christian mascot, with its distinctive “chinstrap” beard, hat, and gold sweater sporting a monogram of the Elon “E”. The term Fighting Christians was first used during the 1922-23 football season, and became a customary name for Elon’s athletic teams, even though it was never officially adopted by the college or its trustees.
There was also, for a time, a fan-produced version of the Fighting Christian. In the early 1970s, a local fan attended Elon College football games wearing a handmade version of the Fighting Christian. This homemade costume consisted of a gold and maroon robe and a paper-mache mask, complete with hair and a chin strap beard.
The man, Phil Goble, wore the mask and robe when attending Elon athletic events in the early seventies. Both items were made by Goble’s mother. Goble was not a student at Elon College, but his family lived in Burlington and regularly attended games at Elon. Years later, Goble was visiting an area school where Elon alumnus Dennis Lawson was the principal. Goble noticed Lawson’s Elon diploma, and after a conversation about Elon, Goble told Lawson about the Fighting Christian outfit he had worn, and asked if Dennis would like to have it. In 2009, Lawson donated the mask and robe to Elon University Archives and Special Collections.
Elon University’s new redesigned Phoenix sports a gold sweater and monogram “E” which pay tribute to the original “Fightin’ Christian” mascot. And while the hand-made costume was not used by the college, it has certainly become part of Elon’s lore.