At Alfred University our Honors Program is unique: not only do we offer obscure courses but a walrus is both our mascot and seal.

A seal in Latin is "sigillum," which is one of the Latin words contained in the University's seal. The founders of the Alfred University Honors Program took a different approach to this word: they turned it into a nickname for our seal, thus the name "Siggy" was bestowed upon our friendly walrus.

But why a walrus?
One of the hallmarks of the Alfred University Honors Program is the opportunity to take seemingly typical everyday discussions and turn them into intellectual quests. Ordinary is not in our dictionary, we don't conform to normal standards, so why not have a walrus as our mascot and seal? After all, it makes as much sense as our motto: "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."

So we may be the only Honors Program in the country with a seal (that’s really a walrus). We named him/her, but that’s a matter of great debate. Is it Siggy or Siggie?