Bridgewater’s beloved mascot
Meet BC’s most popular eagle, Ernie! You’ll see Ernie at a lot of BC sporting events and campus activities.
He’s always dancing and interacting with students, families, alumni, and kids of all ages!
Ernie first appeared on the sidelines back in the late 1980s and has been delighting fans ever since.
Ernie the Eagle was hatched somewhere in the majestic Shenandoah Valley in the mid-late 1800’s. His childhood was very different than that of his siblings, as many of you have noticed Ernie is a bit bigger than your average bald eagle. Which is something that hasn’t changed. This meant that his mother had to build him his own nest. This gave Ernie multitudes of time to work on his humor and to develop his odd sense of humor. Then that tragic day came when it was time to fly. On this fateful day, Ernie was pushed out of the nest by his mother in hopes that he would fly away and have a life of his own. But after being dropkicked out of the nest he proceeded to hit every, single, branch on the way down to the ground. Till this day Ernie can’t fly. But that doesn’t mean it stopped him from living his life.
Ernie came across Bridgewater College while walking around the woods. He was confused and baffled all at the same time: the sight of such large gorgeous buildings, the multitudes or people walking around, and the hospitality from everyone at the college. Everyone that passed by was in the same boat Ernie was. People would murmur “How in the world can an eagle be this huge and be able to walk around on campus?” But they would also say hello as they passed by. Which was a common occurrence for the next few weeks, because Ernie decided to stay a bit. He went to the sports games, some fun events on campus and even slept in a tree for nearly a week. He was the one who was most into the games and getting the crowd involved. This lead to the administration wondering who this “Ernie” was that was staying on campus. They started to watch Ernie at games and saw that the students were interacting with him and he was having such a positive effect on the students and faculty.
Upon much discussion, contemplation and many meetings Bridgewater College decided to ask Ernie if he would want to stay and become the mascot for the college. Ernie was taken aback at this question, he was asked if he would want to be the official mascot for the school that he loved so dear and to keep entertaining the students that he held so near to his heart. He then shed a single tear, the only time he has ever cried, and emphatically said yes. Since then Ernie has been at Bridgewater College, cheering at the games and attending events to high 5 the students, give hugs and take the occasional picture.
