Tracing the roots of an icon that has embodied Notre Dame Academy’s strength and spirit since 1976
Cincinnati and Louisville are blessed with an abundance of educational opportunities for girls who want to experience high academic standards, a richness of spiritual traditions and well-rounded opportunities to play sports and participate in clubs and extra-curricular activities. But none of these educational opportunities – from St. Ursula Academy, north of Cincinnati to Mercy Academy, south of Louisville, can claim a mascot as unique as the Notre Dame Academy PANDA. What do the cougar, the wolf, the bulldog, the lion or the jaguar suggest about the unique spirit of the school, much less the Valkyries or Bailey and Saint Bernard or Tippy the Dog?
Certainly, our Pandas are just as fiercely competitive as any of the other mascots. Pandas are known for their physical strength and prowess, especially when defending their cubs (aka school spirit, athletic titles and fundraising events). None of the other school mascots hold a bamboo branch to the special essence of our Panda, known far and wide as a nurturer of spirit, a protector of others and a peaceful and calming presence among all. And, our Pandas hold the rare honor of defining the school identity within its own name – PANDA. In fact, the NDA Panda mascot is so distinctive that it was honored by USA TODAY High School Sports as one of the “most unique mascots” in the country.
The NDA panda mascot was officially “born” in February of 1976 and was primarily a mascot for the athletic teams. As the school’s sports team became more involved with other schools outside our immediate region, it was decided that a mascot was needed to make us more recognizable. At the start of the 1975-76 academic year, Student Council, in conjunction with GAA, sponsored a school wide contest to pick a mascot. Sophomore Beverly Rosing thought to write down every stuffed animal that she had in her bedroom, and at a loss for which would provide a mascot that would be unique to the school, submitted the entire list for consideration. Luckily, she added her newest addition, a stuffed panda that she had just received for her birthday. Among the hundreds of entries submitted, the judges saw on Beverly’s list the only name that stood out as uniquely identifiable to our school, for it included the initials of the school – the PANDA.
The new mascot was announced at a school wide assembly in February of 1976. Immediately, afterwards, stuffed panda bears began popping up at every basketball game. However, it wasn’t until the 1977 basketball season that a real-live panda appeared on the NDA courts. Dressed in a full-size panda costume, junior Colleen McDermott appeared on the NDA scene, bouncing and cartwheeling across the court. Originally a cheerleader for Newport Catholic, Colleen abandoned the all-boys school, in favor of her own teams. 
During an interview for The Gavel, Colleen said that she would rather cheer for girls because “you don’t have to be so phony and serious like you do for guys”. As a senior, Colleen exhibited her Panada spirit at almost all of the home games for the volleyball and basketball teams, leading the cheering Panda fans in ways described as “unique, chaotic and unreal fun”. She claimed that the purpose behind her “madness” was to psyche up the players so that they were mentally prepared to play their best game. Senior volleyball player, Mary Lorenz said that “Colleen gets us all in a great mood for every game”. She also added two sidekicks to her routine, junior Mary Jo Schutzman, who contributed to the fun by “banging a cymbal with her red whiffle bat” and her sister, sophomore Jenny McDermott who led most of the cheers. Colleen’s “cheer squad” expanded during the 1977-78 school year to include cheering for all volleyball, basketball and softball home games and many of the track home meets.
Over the years, the NDA Panda has undergone many changes to capture the essence of its unique spirit. The first characterizations included a pennant waving panda and a cheerleader panda used primarily for sporting events.
It didn’t take long however for the Panda mascot to begin showing up in a variety of depictions such as a “how do you do” panda, a “shy, contented” panda or just a panda paw.
Today the panda can be found everywhere throughout the school as well as a participant at almost all events: welcoming students the first day of classes, club assemblies, pep rallies, class level competitions, club mascots and featured especially on all spiritwear. So be careful where you tread at NDA – the Panda is a powerful force that brings joy to all who raise a panda paw!
WE are the PANDAS, Mighty, mighty pandas.
Everywhere we go, People want to know
Who we are So we tell them,
WE are the PANDAS, Mighty, mighty Pandas……
