Ruff the YC Mascot

Ruff loves spending lots of time with Roughrider fans in the community!

Yavapai College's mascot Ruff shows up in lots of places, presenting deserving students with awards at school assemblies, starting off charity walks, or adding excitement at a neighborhood festival as well as attending many YC functions. 

Want Ruff at your next event?
Complete the Ruff reservation form

  • For Questions:
  • Janice Soutee
  • (928) 776-2125
  • ruff@yc.edu

The mascot that the College has used for decades was created by Yvonne Johnson, a student artist in Oct. 1973. Basketball Coach Dave Brown asked her if she’d like to make a large image of Ol’ Ruff for the gym floor.

Ruff made his 1st large-scale appearance in Nov. 1974 on the floor of the gym. He was depicted as a standing Basketball figure and on a horse charging with a sword in his hand (Ruff-Riter 11/27/74). See more info at the YC Library Archives.

original ruff mascot image

Per the Prescott Living Magazine's article on the history of the Roughriders in Prescott,   William “Buckey” O’Neill, Mayor of Prescott in 1898, wanted to raise a volunteer regiment in response to the sinking of the USS Maine. This hardcore group of Arizona frontiersmen called “The Rough Riders,” trained at Ft. Whipple and would become the origin and core of the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. The Yavapai College Prescott campus sits on the land that was part of Fort Whipple. Yavapai College's sports teams members, as Roughriders, honor this accomplishment. 

See also the National Park Service history of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders