Turbo’s Twists: The Wild History of Geneva’s Mascots
We love Turbo at Geneva College! But our beloved Golden Tornado hasn’t always had the friendly yet fierce action-figure look he does today. He has been through some major twists and turns over the years.
Mascot 1: A Surprising Start
Although Geneva’s first mascot was not a tornado, it was still a striking symbol of strength and power. It was … a guinea pig.
Way back in 1890, the Geneva Covies — short for Covenanters, an honored name for Reformed Presbyterians from their origin in seventeenth-century Scotland — played their first intercollegiate football game, on a field ridged from cultivating potatoes in it the previous summer. Although Geneva played only one game that season, by 1903 the College was traveling around the state for a triumphant 10-game season.
According to the Geneva Cabinet, which dutifully gave a play by play of every game of the 1903 season, Geneva College traveled to Washington and Jefferson College on November 14. They were accompanied to the train station on this important occasion by the Nonpareil Band. A special guest was present: “A young guinea pig with a bunch of white and gold ribbon around its neck served as a mascot.”
Unfortunately, that was the only football game of the season that the Covies lost — in fact, it was the only one in which their opponent put up any points. Maybe guinea pigs aren’t cut out for mascot duty.
Mascot 2: The Studious Sodium
Fast forward to 1940, and Geneva College is still in search of the right mascot. It’s a new animal this time. Sodium — or Sodie for short — was a homeless “little mutt with ears flapping and tail a-beating.” Unlike even the best Geneva students, Sodie the dog sat quietly and respectfully through almost an entire Bible class. However, she caused trouble around campus by darting into McKee Hall and, the Cabinet playfully noted, forcing “Dr. Patton to use all of his psychological wiles on the puppy to coax her from his psychology class.”
Always a fan of troublemakers, Geneva students wanted to adopt Sodie as a mascot — however, it was going to cost $12 to get her the required license and visit to the vet. The Cabinet asked 500 students to give just 3 cents each to cover her expenses. Sadly, college students were just as broke in 1940 as they are now.
Mascot 3: The Covie Pup
By 1950, though, there was a new dog in town. Bonnie Heather of Geneva was a Scottish terrier who served as Geneva’s first lasting mascot, making her campus appearance at Homecoming on the Boosters Club float. “She is a beautiful puppy worth more than twice her weight in twenty-dollar bills,” the Cabinet boasts, before launching into a lengthy description of Bonnie’s aristocratic pedigree and boarding arrangements at the home of football coach Walter West.
Bonnie the Scottish terrier was a suitable mascot for the Geneva Covies, but in 1959, Geneva teams became known as the Golden Tornadoes. The new nickname came from a powerful storm in 1914 that tore off a section of the then gold-colored roof of Old Main.
Initially, Geneva’s student body was frustrated with the name change, blaming it on the “overworked and after all, very trite excuse that you can’t draw a picture of a ‘Covie.’” However, the administration prevailed in the end. A mascot that represented this new nickname was surprisingly long in the making.
Mascot 4: Introducing Windy the Tornado
In 1984, senior Ilia Matos presented a plan to have a student dressed as the school mascot at Geneva College games to President McFarland. Soon enough, Matos herself was making appearances as “Windy,” the first of several iterations of our famous Tornado.
Now, there is no verification of exactly why Geneva’s cheerleading advisor Mrs. Marian Dunlap responded to an advertisement from Allied Costumes (a company specializing in school mascots) in 1989. But I might humbly venture to guess that poor Windy’s anteater-like facial features — and the nickname "Golden Twinkie" — impacted her decision.
Mascot 5: A New Tornado in Town
It so happened that the owner of Allied Costumes was Geneva alumnus Dennis Phillips. Upon discovering his alma mater was interested in purchasing a costume, Phillips generously donated the mascot costume, worth about $500. It may come as less of a surprise that this new tornado — who had the look of a snarling carrot — was the work of Allied Costumes also appears in one of the greatest films of the time, “Jaws 3.”
Mascot 6: The First Turbo
The Golden Tornadoes were soon ready for another upgrade. The 2006 Geneva Magazine reports that “translating the Golden Tornadoes team name into a mascot that strikes fear into the hearts of Geneva’s opponents has proved difficult.” That is why sophomore class representatives developed a new mascot named Turbo.
It appears that they may still not have solved the problem, when, during his tour of Kennywood amusement park, Turbo was accosted by several elementary school children screaming “Sponge Bob Square Pants!” At least, thankfully, the other name options considered for Turbo — including Gusto, Doppler, and Spin — did not succeed.
Mascot 7: The Second Turbo
By 2012, Turbo was a bit dusty from spinning around campus and community events. Because the costume was so large, it could not be professionally cleaned. Local costume maker Carrie Havranek designed a new Turbo that would be easier to maintain. Kylie Gardner, senior class president, noted at the time that “Turbo is crucial to school pride … the updated look makes Turbo more modern while preserving the tradition.”
Mascot 8: Tornado Warning! Turbo the Tornado Launches in 2021
Those same considerations led to the final version of Turbo in this long and arduous journey that began with a guinea pig.
Our modern, fierce, and friendly Turbo the Tornado touched down on campus for the first time at Homecoming in 2021, after a series of videos on Geneva’s Instagram with the hashtag #Where’sTurbo? and a suspicious absence during the beginning of the fall semester.
“What we [the marketing department] were really hoping we could do with Turbo was to create a design that would get people excited to see the mascot and allow him to become an ambassador for Geneva outside of the campus,” says Ben Lichius, graphic design manager in Geneva’s Marketing and Communications Department. “We wanted to build school spirit with a mascot that could do fun things, like shoot a basketball or walk in a parade.”
Ben Lichius’s background in comics, characters, and game design is evident in our new superhero version of Turbo. He has become a true favorite of the Geneva students and community, and is always looking for ways to make events a little more exciting!
(Plus, we can’t forget his furry feline friend of the same name. Let’s be real: Turbo the Cat is one of the main reasons Geneva students find themselves headed to McCartney Library these days.)
Next time you see Turbo the Tornado, compliment him on his fresh look — he has come a long way over the years. Keep an eye out for Tornado Warnings, too. You never know where Turbo is headed next!
Thank you to the Geneva College Archives for documents and photos.
By Reagan Shields ‘26
Opinions expressed in the Geneva Blog are those of its contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official position of the College. The Geneva Blog is a place for faculty and contributing writers to express points of view, academic insights, and contribute to national conversations to spark thought, conversation, and the pursuit of truth, in line with our philosophy as a Christian, liberal arts institution.
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