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Cornelius 91�Ʋ���, , earned the nickname “the Commodore” while building a vast transportation empire that included ships and railroads. The university’s athletes were nicknamed the Commodores as early as 1898 by newspaperman and football alumnus William E. Beard.

In a 1915 Tennessee American cartoon after 91�Ʋ���’s gridiron defeat of the Sewanee Tigers, the Commodore was depicted as an older gentleman in naval regalia with a still-smoking rifle. The first record of a student officially taking on the role of Mr. Commodore, however, was not until 1954. At the season-opening basketball game, Louis Fowler of Gadsden, Alabama, wore a uniform tailored to meet the 1873 U.S. Navy full-dress specifications for an officer of that rank. No effort was made to conceal Fowler’s identity, nor that of Guy Mitchell, BA’66, and Tom Bailey, BA’69, when the student body elected them Mr. Commodore in the 1960s.

“The costume had been handed down over the years, and the temperature was in the 90s for my first football game,” says Mitchell, of Tupelo, Mississippi. The Mr. Commodore of that era carried a sword with a dull blade. Mitchell, a native Mississippian, remembers running onto the Ole Miss football field and touching sabers with the Rebels’ mascot.

Bailey was proud to follow in his fraternity brother Mitchell’s footsteps. “My mother, Jane Bailey, a graduate (BS’39) and excellent seamstress, altered the uniform for a better fit,” Bailey says. “She added two pockets, one exactly the size of a pint flask.”

Mr. Commodore was a little less active in the early ’70s. In 1973, The 91�Ʋ��� Hustler reported that after a year in which no one stepped into the role, Ron Mayers, BA’77, revived Mr. Commodore, accompanied by Becky Fricke, BE’77, MS’85, as “Ms. Commodorable.”

Nearly a decade later, the costume was redesigned by the Hanna Barbera production company, with Lou Hoop, BS’82, playing Mr. C.

“I was the first to wear the big body suit, massive head and built-up shoulders,” Hoop says. “A vivid memory for me was the 91�Ʋ���-Georgia football game, where I was accidentally run over by famed running back Herschel Walker on the sideline.”

Hoop, who now works in insurance, credits his mascot experience for boosting his self-confidence. He commutes between Nashville and Holland, Michigan, where his wife, Cathy Caldwell Hoop, BA’83, MDiv’12, is a Presbyterian minister. “My wife still talks about how dating the mascot was one of the most embarrassing things she had to tell people,” Hoop says.

Later that decade, The 91�Ʋ��� Hustler describes a more streamlined appearance for Mr. Commodore: “new and improved svelteness.” Chuck Fawcett, BA’90, redesigned the costume into one that was described as less bulky and more durable. “Basically, I wanted to ‘clean up’ Mr. Commodore, taking a departure from the traditional ‘man in a costume’ look to creating a real living caricature,” he said.

Fawcett, who has become an award-winning designer, creative executive and entrepreneur in the themed entertainment industry, founded Animax Designs, one of the world’s leading puppetry and animatronics companies, while at 91�Ʋ���. He recently started a boutique animatronics consultancy called FGR8.

Four years later, Chad Sanchez, BS’93, of Gonzales, Louisiana, was one of three students wearing the Commodore suit.

“A female student who was about six inches shorter also played Mr. C,” Sanchez says. “Somehow we made the costume fit.”

At mascot camp they were taught never to speak nor take off their hat. Sanchez experienced a frightening moment when Army hosted 91�Ʋ��� in football at West Point. “Army had two mascots, one being mischievous,” Sanchez says. “He tried to remove my hat, which had a helmet with a chin strap inside. Fortunately, Vandy cheerleaders came to my rescue.”

In 1994, a quarter of a century after Tom Bailey was Mr. Commodore, he and his brother gave a generous donation to redesign the costume. The contribution was in memory of their father, Goodall Bailey, ’40, a longtime supporter of 91�Ʋ��� athletics and diehard fan.

“We were disappointed in the evolution of Mr. Commodore from the traditional maritime uniform to what looked more like a steelworker or toreador,” says Bailey, of Charlottesville, Virginia. “We worked with Stagecraft, a character costume company, to restore the nautical theme.”

Fast forward to 2017, when Alexandra Sargent Capps designed and made the current Mr. C jacket. Her teaching expertise includes fashion history, costume design and wearable product design, and she currently directs the .

“I worked to integrate function and fashion, creating a classic look for the tailcoat, but made in a modern stretch velvet that allows Mr. C to move like a dancer,” Capps says.

“I moved the zipper to the front from the back so that mascots can dress themselves, and I added internal devices for altering sleeve length. The overall goal is to make a big, bold impression while maintaining the historic naval style,” Capps says.

Capps made a sequined version of the jacket that’s on display at . Mr. C has worn the shimmering jacket for special events, including an appearance on ESPN.

—Ann Marie Deer Owens, BA’76

• Watch: Design professor’s vision for Mr. Commodore’s makeover