{"id":4671,"date":"2020-12-15T14:45:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T19:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/?p=4671"},"modified":"2020-12-18T11:10:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T16:10:50","slug":"welcome-herm-v-a-little-hermstory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/2020\/12\/15\/welcome-herm-v-a-little-hermstory\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome Herm V: A Little Hermstory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The fifth incarnation of the EMU Blue Lion known familiarly as Herm was introduced during the kick-off celebration Friday, Oct. 16, of Homecoming Weekend. His history begins well before this passing of the torch. Here are some highlights:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1980:<\/strong> Basketball coach Sherman Eberly \u201868 tells The Weather Vane<\/em> that he\u2019d like to see \u201csome type of mascot\u201d and an organized pep band next season, which would \u201cadd a great deal to team spirit.\u201d Up until now, the Royals logo has been drawn as a coat of arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

1981: <\/strong>Alumni relations director Les Helmuth \u201878 holds a student competition to create a cartoon mascot. The Royals Lion wins the competition, and a character design is first drawn by Darrell Yoder \u201881 with the name \u201cHRM,\u201d short for \u201chis royal majesty.\u201d

Gloria Lehman \u201874, a home economics teacher at Eastern Mennonite High School, and Helmuth create the first costume. Helmuth said he served as the first HRM: \u201cthe headgear was intoxicating and I couldn\u2019t find anyone to wear it.\u201d This first incarnation became known as the \u201cwimpy\u201d lion.

Rob French \u201884 becomes HRM for the next three years. One night, \u201cthere was a disagreement between our cheerleaders and Bridgewater\u2019s. I went over to apologize and they pulled my tail!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1984:<\/strong> HRM is reborn as a professionally made costume with string hair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

1988: <\/strong>A new Herm enters the scene with a mane of blue and white feathers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1994:<\/strong> The athletics department commissions artist Henry Gomez to rebrand Herm, but \u201cits rippling muscles and grimacing expression created controversy in the department,\u201d according to The Weather Vane<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1995\u201397:<\/strong> Herm is mysteriously absent \u2026 gap years, perhaps?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1998:<\/strong> The \u201csleek blue lion\u201d Herm, designed by EMU communications staffer Wendell Esbenshade, begins its 22-year reign. Director of alumni and parent relations Janet Stutzman purchases the new costume on behalf of the alumni club \u201cthe Loyal Royals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

2000:<\/strong> Among other highlights, Herm hands out balloons at the dedication ceremony for the opening of University Commons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2009: <\/strong>The Feather Brain<\/em> reports that Herm is suspended indefinitely for fraternizing with a rival mascot \u2013 the Bridgewater Lady Eagle \u2013 in \u201clate night roller [rink] escapades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 2020: <\/strong>Herm announces his retirement saying, \u201cmy speed and agility are no longer a match for today\u2019s athletes, and with my limited tech skills I have fallen behind in my abilities to stay \u2018hip\u2019 with our student
body \u2026 I feel the time has come for me to walk away from the Royal throne and pass the torch to the next Loyal Lion in line for EMU.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks to Ashley Kishorn, field hockey head coach, and Les Helmuth, former alumni relations director, for their contributions to this history.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fifth incarnation of the EMU Blue Lion known familiarly as Herm was introduced during the kick-off celebration Friday, Oct. 16, of Homecoming Weekend. His history begins well before this passing of the torch. Here are some highlights: 1980: Basketball coach Sherman Eberly \u201868 tells The Weather Vane that he\u2019d like to see \u201csome type of mascot\u201d and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":4673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[953,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-winter-2019-20-2","category-magazine","issues-current-issue","issues-fall-winter-2020-21","feature-issue-highlights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4671"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4761,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671\/revisions\/4761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}