More than a decade ago, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns stopped having an official mascot, ever since Cayenne, the personified red-hot chili pepper, faded out of the scene. Before Cayenne, the University had also been represented by a bulldog, Mr. Ragin’ Cajun and the Fabulous Cajun Chicken, though none stuck.
For the first 60 years after UL Lafayette was founded in 1898, the University was nicknamed the Bulldogs and had a live English bulldog as the mascot. The bulldog, Gee, would lead the football team onto the field at every game.
In L’Acadien’s 1998 yearbook, Annie Fradella wrote, “A few years later, it became apparent that keeping a bulldog on campus was very unpractical (impractical) and expensive.” A student named William Butts took over the job of being a bulldog by crafting a bulldog costume.
According to Athletics, in the early 1960s, then Coach Russ Faulkinberry called the football team the “Raging Cajuns,” since the majority was from the Acadiana area. Then Sports Information Director Bob Henderson decided to go with that name to honor the team and their Cajun heritage, which replaced the nickname of the Bulldogs in 1962.
In 1974, “Raging Cajuns” was shortened to Ragin’ Cajuns. As this name needed a face to go with it, the Cajun Man, known as Mr. Ragin’ Cajun, became the official mascot. However, “He did not go over well with the students,” Fradella wrote. As such, Mr. Cajun was only seen for about six years.
During Mr. Cajun’s time, the Fabulous Cajun Chicken also started appearing at games. This all started when Russell Heim, who was a Bud Man at that time, appeared at several University games and gained vast popularity. In 1984, the president of the University asked him to create a character for their use at the games due to the poor reception of Mr. Cajun. Heim ended up picking the bird costume on a whim.
Heim, as the Fabulous Cajun Chicken, went on to rule the fields and courts, rallying the crowds with his high-energy antics, performing skits and dance moves. Eventually, the character was also retired, just like Mr. Cajun.
In 1990, the bulldog made a comeback, even though the nickname did not. An English bulldog, named Ragin’ Cajun, Ragin’ for short, made his official debut as part of homecoming festivities that year. Ragin’ was led by junior varsity cheerleading Coach Doug Palombo.
Ragin’ was later replaced by Red, who made her debut at the historic USL vs. University of Texas A&M game in 1996, led across the field by student handler Josh Gaspard.
Eventually, the University needed something that would better represent the Ragin’ Cajuns. According to Athletics, “The University had to look no further than the new logos. Inside the logo, a pepper was used as the apostrophe for Ragin’.” Around the late 1990s-2000, Cayenne was introduced.
Cayenne stuck around for a little over a decade, embodying south Louisiana’s spicy cuisine, fiery spirit and Cajun culture. Due to budget cuts and costume costs, Cayenne stopped appearing regularly, until the character completely vanished from the sidelines.
Today, UL Lafayette has yet to announce a new mascot to replace Cayenne, which sparked a fan-created, unofficial mascot, Albineaux “Al” Boudreaux, an albino alligator.
Cory St. Ewart has been campaigning for the University to adopt “Al” as the next mascot for the Ragin’ Cajuns since 2024.
However, his efforts were unsuccessful with the University.