The Bear Den hosted a birthday celebration for Bruce and Sugar on the Student Center lawn  Jan 16. 

The birthday party had music, free t-shirts, and each attendee got a slice of birthday cake. 

Senior Zoey Brown, a member of the UCA Bear Den, said “we host Bruce and Sugar’s birthday around the middle of January every year, but we won’t reveal their ages because it is a secret.” “We love when students can come out and just enjoy a slice of cake and a free t-shirt.” 

Freshman attendee Sam Gengler said “I thought it was a great opportunity to get the UCA students around to be a part of their birthday party. It is a really neat tradition that we have, and having two mascots, I know a lot of universities don’t have that, but we do, and they take it very seriously.” 

There were also three different birthday cakes. One for Bruce, one for Sugar, and one for both of them. 

“I kind of did expect there to be cakes, ” Gengler said. Because when I think about it, when I think about birthday parties, the first thing that comes to mind is cake, and it really wouldn’t be a birthday party without cake — But I think it is really unique because there is three different cakes, and they are all different colors and flavors, so I think it brings a nice twist to the birthday party. 

UCA has a long and complex history with its mascots. According to a previous article in The Echo, “The first Icon of UCA was dubbed Mr. Bear. The Character was sponsored by the Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity and the costume consisted of a single fur bodysuit and a head smaller than Bruce’s.” 

In 1982, Mr. Bear’s name was changed to Huggy Bear. 

The first double mascots in UCA history came in 1999 when Victor E. Bear made his way on the scene, with the female version, Victoria Bear, coming soon after. 

Then in 2006, Bruce D. Bear became the newest UCA mascot, replacing Victor. 

Soon after, Victoria’s name was changed to Sugar to match with the new mascot Bruce. 

According to the same previous article, “By 2012, the suit had changed to resemble the modern-day Bruce seen on the field today.”