The long-beloved furry face of Shawnee State athletics will have a new look after today.

Shawn E. Bear, the athletics mascot for the Shawnee State Bears, was given a new "bear suit" courtesy of a donation by former Board of Trustees member William McKinley.

The new-look mascot will be unveiled today between the mens and womens basketball games at SSU. The university has christened the day's events as "Bear Fest 2009" and will include T-shirt give-a-ways, a male and female wing eating contest and X-treme Makeover, Bear Edition where Shawn E. will be unveiled.

Shawnee State University President Rita Rice Morris discussed the need for a new look as the university underwent its recent re-branding to help "bear" the university forward.

"One of the things we looked at through this process was the mascot and the image he projected...," Morris said at a press conference Friday. "We decided the current Shawn E. Bear wasn't the image that we wanted to project in the future."

The press conference, attended by Morris, McKinley, SSU athletic director Jeff Hamilton and Shawn E. Bear, was held to give local media a chance to meet Shawn E. before he was introduced to the public today.

While the new outfit bears a few resemblances to the old, Morris said that the new costume is designed to convey a proud, strong, active, athletic and competitive look.

"Occasionally the Bear and I go out together and public and he's going to make me look good," Morris said. "Sometimes I take him places where he can't believe he's going. "

The new "bear suit" will be the third in SSU's history and was designed by Eric Rickabaugh of Rickabaugh Graphics. Among Rickabaugh's credits are the Ohio State "O" logo as well as the logos for Vanderbilt and the Philadelphia 76ers.

The new uniform is lighter weight than previous suits and allows for greater flexibility.

All three Bear suits have been provided by McKinley.

"William McKinley is the reason we have a Bear..." Morris said. "He provided the first costume and he has provided successive costumes."

The mascot makeover brings to bear Shawnee State's recent efforts to re-market itself both locally and nationally and a change in the mascot's appearance will coincide with some changes in Shawnee athletics as SSU prepares to leave the AMC and join the Mid-South Conference.

"It's par for the course to have a mascot that is on level with our athletic teams and Shawn E. Bear represents that very well," Hamilton said. "He is outstanding, sharp looking, humble... We're excited about the things he can bring to the table."

While Shawn E. Bear is unable to speak, he did communicate to Hamilton that he is excited about his new look.

"He's very excited," Hamilton said, speaking for the Bear. "It's the first time in Shawn's illustrious career that the costume fits his physique. He's happy that the hard work in the weight room is starting to pay off and show just how Arnold-esque he could be."

The video of the press conference can be seen at www.portsmouth-

dailytimes.com. Click on the sports link.

JOHN STEGEMAN can be reached at jstegeman02@hotmail.com