New Yellowjacket Statue Placed in Closson Center

A new Yellowjackets mascot statue has found a home in the entryway of the Eugene E. and Julia Travis Closson Physical Education Center. The statue was donated by funds from the Aaron House Scholarship Fund and placed according to the results of a social media poll.

The Yellowjacket statue – “Sting,” as Graceland’s mascot has come to be known – stands six feet tall (minus the antennae) and is made of fiberglass in the school colors of blue and gold. It will offer visitors to home basketball and volleyball games as well as other campus events an opportunity to take a picture with the mascot and event to post on social media to show Yellowjacket school spirit.

Like the placement of the new statue, Graceland’s mascot was also selected by a vote. The yellow jacket – later combined into one word – was selected in the fall of 1926, inspired by the many yellow jackets that swarmed around what is now the Higdon Administration Building at the time.

Aaron House was one of the first men’s residence hall Houses to be named in October 1962 and existed for 50 years until 2012. There is a stone in the Alumni Brick Plaza commemorating their 50 years as a Graceland House.

Aaron was also one of the first Houses to establish an endowed scholarship fund. During the 1989-90 school year, Aaron House members wrote and phoned House alumni to raise funds for scholarships to be awarded to current Aaron House members. When the House was disbanded in 2012, Aaron House directed Graceland to use earnings from the Aaron House scholarship fund to go toward a Sting statue with future earnings to be used for scholarships in the name of Aaron House.

With the arrival of this statue and the continued Endowment, Lamoni campus students and visitors will continue to benefit from the efforts of Aaron House and its members for years to come.