Mascot
Get to Know Us
What it Means to be a RMCat!
Since 1963, the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design community has been a mosaic, welcoming everyone from all walks of life. This inclusive “strays welcome” attitude has helped develop the diverse, creative, and utterly unique atmosphere that has come to define RMCAD over the past 60+ years.
Being a RMCat means
Promoting a playful Energy
Embodying Resilience
Pouncing on opportunities
Staying curious
Who is Desi the RMCat?
Desi is the latest in a long line of campus cats and the embodiment of creativity. As a stray calico cat, Desi followed their dream from parts unknown to study art at RMCAD. Unfortunately for Desi, RMCAD currently only admits human students, but that hasn’t stopped them from staying anyway. Since then, Desi has learned a lot about painting but not much about how to hold a paintbrush (they still prefer to use their tail). Desi continues to sit in on all sorts of classes ranging from liberal arts and illustration to game art and interior design (despite not paying tuition).
Though no one was particularly keen on Desi sticking around, they offered to earn their keep by helping the other RMCats catch mice. When asked what they thought of Desi, both Spooky and Princess declined to comment. However, RMCAD’s students have come to appreciate Desi’s unshakeable individuality. Trading in being an alley cat for artist alley, Desi said that their favorite thing about RMCAD is the community. Desi enjoys trading book recommendations in the Student Learning Commons, posting their art on RMCAD Connect, and attending events like VASD, Frames + Games, and the Fashion Showcase in person and online. That is when they are not taking naps in the sculpture garden and trying (but failing) to climb the water tower.
Though RMCAD was doing just fine for the first 60 years without a mascot, Desi asserts that the school would fall into ruin without them. Desi keeps telling the facilities team (who continues to feed them) that they will go home once they have learned all there is about art and design. What is it that they say about curiosity and the cat? Which means that as our talented faculty continue to expand and update the curriculum, they are only extending Desi’s stay. For better or worse, Desi is RMCAD’s mascot at least until their curiosity is quenched.
The History of the Campus RMCats
When RMCAD moved to its current Lakewood campus in 2003, the grounds came with an unexpected feline inhabitant. Since then, the RMCats have been the college’s unofficial mascot thanks to feline friends who called the campus home even before RMCAD did. From there, word must have gotten out in the alleycat community because a few more strays found themselves on RMCAD’s campus until a full clowder had formed (the proper term for a group of adult cats). Now, they even have their own little house on the east side of the Spivak building.
Whitey
The first true RMCat was undoubtedly Whitey (the not-so-creatively-named white cat). Known as “the cat who came with the buildings,” Whitey was a once-feral cat who found a new home on campus and was cared for by RMCAD’s facilities team before he unfortunately passed in 2012. However, his legacy lives on with the remaining cats on campus.
Princess
As her name leads you to believe, Princess is by far the most photogenic of the RMCats. Her friendly demeanor and willingness to strike a pose have cemented her reputation as the monarch of the RMCAD campus. She is often mistaken for her (non-biological) sister, Spooky. However, you know when you have seen Princess based on her orange-and-black tortoiseshell fur.
Spooky
In stark contrast to her sister, Spooky is the most elusive of the campus cats. There are very few pictures of Spooky. However, just because you can’t see her doesn’t mean she can’t see you. Spooky’s stealth is aided by her deep black coat of fur. No one knows the campus better than her. She likes to spend her time in the tunnels beneath RMCAD’s campus, prowling.
How Desi Came to Be
In early 2026, a small team of faculty, staff, and students banded together to form the mascot committee and finally select an official mascot for RMCAD. Their goal wasn’t to single-handedly determine the mascot but to work with the RMCAD community to choose something the entire college could be proud of.
Beginning with concept submissions, community members were invited to share their ideas for RMCAD’s mascot. With 160 concept submissions, there were plenty of great ideas to choose from, and the mascot committee whittled the options down to five. However, with cats making up over 30 submissions in one form or another, it was no surprise which idea was going to win. When it went to a public vote that February, over 900 votes were cast, and the RMCats came out on top!
Throughout March and April that year, RMCAD put out a call to all artists in the community and received over 100 original character mockups. Once three finalists were selected, it was up to the community to select their favorite design. As the final step in the process, 1,117 votes were cast, selecting the design you see today, designed by Emma Bushman.
About Emma Bushman
At the time of the competition, Emma Bushman was a senior in the Illustration program with an emphasis in Concept Art. While completing her online degree from her hometown in New Jersey, Bushman’s success was not only a huge win for online students like herself but for all students. Bushman was the only student whose design was selected for the final vote (competing against two RMCAD alumni). As the winner of the final design vote, Bushman’s illustration of Desi the cat has become the college’s official mascot, prompting her mom to ask if there is a limit on how many mascot T-shirts she can buy!
