2023 Mascot Hall of Fame Best Collegiate Live Human Mascot Program Award Winner
The Leprechaun is the official live human mascot of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, one of the most recognized college athletic programs in the country, and an independent program in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) — famously unaffiliated with any athletic conference for football. Notre Dame plays its home games at Notre Dame Stadium in Notre Dame, Indiana, a venue steeped in more college football history per square foot than almost anywhere else in the sport. The Leprechaun became the university’s official mascot in 1966 and earned the 2023 Mascot Hall of Fame Best Collegiate Live Human Mascot Program Award for a program that has quietly evolved into one of the most thoughtful and intentional mascot operations in college athletics.
A Character Defined by the People Who Wear It
What makes the Notre Dame Leprechaun genuinely unique among live human mascot programs is the relationship between the person and the character. Typically, four students are selected each year to portray the Leprechaun, and each brings their own distinct personality to the role. Leprechaun Colin is more intense than Leprechaun Ryan. Leprechaun Kylee is more mischievous than Leprechaun McKenna. The character is not a fixed performance — it is shaped by whoever is wearing the green suit, making each year’s Leprechaun both a continuation of tradition and something entirely new.
The position was historically limited to male students under a certain height who could grow a chinstrap beard. That changed recently; the role is now open to any student who demonstrates genuine zeal and passion for the University of Notre Dame and everything it represents.
A Means of Doing Good
The Leprechaun program frames its mission in explicitly purposeful terms, drawing directly from the words of university founder Fr. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., who wrote upon arriving in 1842 that Notre Dame “cannot fail to succeed” and would be “one of the most powerful means for good in this country.” Every game appearance, every school visit, every international trip to Ireland for the annual Notre Dame vs. Navy game, and every College GameDay moment with Lee Corso is approached as an extension of that founding vision.
The Leprechaun maintains deep personal connections with the Notre Dame community, from the volleyball season ticket holders in Section 10 of Purcell Pavilion who see the same Leprechaun week after week, to the second graders lighting up during a surprise classroom visit. Those small moments are treated with the same seriousness as the biggest stages.
Notre Dame’s Leprechaun has appeared on ESPN’s College GameDay numerous times, most memorably when Lee Corso donned the full green suit and hat to make his game prediction, sending Notre Dame fans into predictable pandemonium. The Leprechaun reportedly handled the moment with characteristic mischief and dignity in equal measure.
