Demon Deacon

The Demon Deacon is the mascot of Wake Forest University, a school located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Probably best known for its slightly unorthodox name and appearance, the Demon Deacon has become a mainstay in the world of U.S. college mascots.

History

The early years and "The Old Gold & Black"

The origins of Wake Forest's mascot are distinctive, yet somewhat debated. As early as 1895, Wake Forest College (as it was called at the time) was using its colors in athletic competition. The school's literary magazine, The Wake Forest Student, described them in this manner:

At last, Wake Forest has a college badge. It is a very neat button designed by Mr. John M. Heck and contains a tiger's head over the letters WFC. The colors are in old gold and black.^[1]

During the early part of the 20th century, these colors became more and more associated with the college. Since Wake Forest was founded as a Baptist college, some historians have proposed an association with the Bible, but most people believe their adoption comes from the connection with the original tiger mascot.

The tiger mascot stayed with the school for a little more than two decades, but reports indicate that by the early 1920s, the college's nicknames were most commonly noted as the "Baptists", or "The Old Gold & Black".

Origin of the Demon Deacons name

The first few decades of the 20th century were particularly rough for the Wake Forest athletic squads, but in 1923, Hank Garrity took the head football and basketball coaching jobs. His leadership gave the school a short relief from its early mediocrity when he led the football team to three consecutive winning seasons, and the basketball team compiled a 33-14 combined record in two seasons.

In 1923, the Wake Forest football team defeated rival Trinity (later renamed Duke University). In the following issue of the school newspaper, the editor of the paper, Mayon Parker (1924 Wake Forest graduate), first referred to the team as "Demon Deacons", in recognition of what he called their "devilish" play and fighting spirit. Henry Belk, Wake Forest's news director, and Garrity liked the title and used it often, so the popularity of the term grew.

Mascot

The actual mascot made its first appearance in 1941. As the "Demon Deacon" terminology became more popular, Jack Baldwin (1943 Wake Forest graduate) became the first Deacon mascot.

"Some of my fraternity brothers and I were just sitting around one evening," Baldwin recalls, "and came to the agreement that what Wake Forest needed was someone dressed like a deacon -- top hat, tails, a black umbrella and all that. We wanted him to be more dignified than other mascots, sort of like an old Baptist Deacon would dress."^[1]

Baldwin found an old tuxedo and a top hat, and on the following Saturday, he led the Wake Forest football team onto the field, riding the North Carolina ram. Two years later, when Baldwin graduated, many interested students were willing to continue dressing up as the mascot. Initially, the responsibility to pick new Demon Deacons fell on Baldwin's fraternity, but later it broadened to include all students. Today, special tryouts are held annually for new Deacons, and the competition is very intense.

A number of years later the mascot continued to be the Demon Deacon, but the full body was designed after a fan and student named "Doc" Murphrey. If he wasn't going to become a star on the football field, he would become the biggest fan the school had ever seen. "We were playing against Carolina, and the fans started hollering, 'We want Murphrey. We want Murphrey.' Peahead got tired of it and hollered, 'Murphrey, come here.' And I said, 'Coach, who do I go in for?' And he said, 'No damn body. They want you and I don't want you, so get up there with them.' I started right then and there being a cheerleader, not really a cheerleader, but just a guy who would get up when you needed somebody to rally the troops."^[2]

Memorable mascots

Over the years, the Deacon has performed numerous memorable stunts:

Jimmy Devos (1955 Wake Forest graduate) shocked a Bowman Gray Stadium football crowd one afternoon by dropping his pants—only to reveal a pair of colorful Bermuda shorts.
Ray Whitley (1957 Wake Forest graduate) introduced the art of goal-climbing to Wake Forest contests.
Bill Shepherd (1960 Wake Forest graduate) answered Auburn's war eagle cry with his own "turkey buzzard."
Joe Hensley (1961 Wake Forest graduate) was the first Deacon to get on the roof of Wait Chapel to motivate the students during the football season.
Hap Bulger (1965 Wake Forest graduate) gained notoriety as the stately "Debonair Deacon."
Jeff Dobbs (1977 Wake Forest graduate), perhaps the most well-known Deacon, was a spirited and acrobatic dancer, who has returned on occasion to inspire Wake Forest crowds with his cheering and antics.

References

^ ^a ^b "The Official Site of Wake Forest Demon Deacon Athletics - Traditions". Archived from the original on 2006-01-08. Retrieved 2005-12-31.
^ "WFU | Window on Wake Forest". www.wfu.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-08.

External links

Wake Forest Sports tradition page

[collegesports.com-1] "The Official Site of Wake Forest Demon Deacon Athletics - Traditions". Archived from the original on 2006-01-08. Retrieved 2005-12-31.

[2] "WFU | Window on Wake Forest". www.wfu.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-08.

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v t e Wake Forest University
Located in: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Academics	Calloway School of Business and Accountancy School of Business School of Divinity School of Law School of Medicine School of Biomedical Engineering & Sciences
Athletics	Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium Atlantic Coast Conference David F. Couch Ballpark Demon Deacon Kentner Stadium Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Reynolds Gymnasium Tobacco Road W. Dennie Spry Soccer Stadium Teams Football Baseball Men's basketball Women's basketball Men's soccer Women's soccer
Campus	Baptist Medical Center Piedmont Triad Research Park Reynolda Gardens Scales Fine Arts Center Wait Chapel
Student life	Carlyle Lectures Old Gold & Black WFDD
People	Alumni Faculty Presidents

v t e Wake Forest Demon Deacons football
Venues	Gore Field (1922–1939) Groves Stadium (1940–1955) Bowman Gray Stadium (1956–1967) Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium (1968–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Tobacco Road North Carolina NC State
Culture & lore	Demon Deacon WakeyLeaks The 5th Quarter
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896–1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball
Venues	Gore Gymnasium (1935–1956) Winston-Salem War Memorial Coliseum (1956–1989) Greensboro Coliseum (alternate; 1959–1989) Reynolds Gymnasium (alternate; 1956–1989) LJVM Coliseum (1989–present)
Rivalries	North Carolina NC State
Culture & lore	Demon Deacon "O Here's to Wake Forest" Spirit of the Old Gold and Black Tobacco Road Dixie Classic/Big Four
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Wake Forest Demon Deacons women's basketball
Venues	Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum (1972–1989) LJVM Coliseum (1989–present)
Culture & lore	Demon Deacon "O Here's to Wake Forest" Spirit of the Old Gold and Black Tobacco Road
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer
Venues	Spry Stadium
Rivalries	Duke North Carolina NC State
Culture & lore	Demon Deacon
People	Notable players
Seasons	2007 2012 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
College Cup finals	2016
National championship seasons in bold; NCAA College Cup in italics