Iowa had a bear cub "Burch" in 1908 and 1909. It appears in the team photos. Lived in a cage under the stadium. Went to road games also. It grew up and was hard to handle. In March 1910, it escaped and fell through the ice on the river. Newspapers said the body was given to UI's museum, who kept the head, but the museum has no record of it.
I had not, but I Googled him and liked the story. He also showed up after my 1919 cutoff date so I did not come across him.
They had an Objee until September 1984. It's one of my favorite college athletics stories.
Iowa had a bear cub "Burch" in 1908 and 1909. It appears in the team photos. Lived in a cage under the stadium. Went to road games also. It grew up and was hard to handle. In March 1910, it escaped and fell through the ice on the river. Newspapers said the body was given to UI's museum, who kept the head, but the museum has no record of it.
Crazy times in the pre-Herky days.
It appears as though Brown had a live bear mascot prior to your 1920 cutoff date:
https://250.brown.edu/story/traditions-old-new/bear.html
I added an image from your article as a postscript.
Have you heard of the Coast Guard Academy's bear, Objee?