The Strongest Chompers in Oregon! The Beavers of Oregon State! The university’s yearbook staff was the first known organization on campus to adopt the beaver as its namesake and did so in 1915. The yearbook’s long use of the name eventually helped solidify the beaver as the university’s official mascot.The popularity of the beaver was also shared by students at University of Oregon. For several early publishings, students at this school also used “The Beaver” as their yearbook’s title. Oregon State University’s first documented use of “Benny Beaver” was found in a photograph showing students posing next to a statue of a beaver inscribed with the name “Benny Beaver.” This photograph appears in the 1942 edition of the yearbook. Although this is the university’s first documented use of a beaver as the school mascot, there is considerable debate as to when it was actually first used. Alumni from the early 20th century have claimed the school used the Beaver as a mascot as early as 1910. However, no known documentation exists.Prior to the beaver, Oregon State’s mascot was an individual known as John Richard Newton Bell (1893–1928). A longtime member of the university’s board of regents, Bell became hugely popular among the students for his ritual of marching to the Marys River after each of Oregon State’s Civil War victories. He was said to have tossed his top hat into the water as a token of celebration. Earlier mascots include “Jimmie” the Coyote (1892–1893), the “Aggies …