Brown Bears

The Brown Bears are the sports teams that represent Brown University, an American university located in Providence, Rhode Island. The Bears are part of the Ivy League conference. Brown's mascot is Bruno. Both the men's and women's teams share the name, competing in 28 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I sports. In football, the Bears, along with all other the Ivy League teams, compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).[2]

This article is about the athletics teams at Brown University. For the animal, see brown bear.
Brown Bears
UniversityBrown University
ConferenceIvy League
NCAADivision I
Athletic directorJack Hayes
LocationProvidence, Rhode Island
Varsity teams28
Football stadiumBrown Stadium
Basketball arenaPizzitola Sports Center
Ice hockey arenaMeehan Auditorium
Baseball stadiumMurray Stadium
Soccer stadiumStevenson Field
Sailing venueTed Turner Sailing Pavilion
Rowing venueHunter S. Marston Boathouse
MascotBruno
NicknameBears
Fight songEver True To Brown
ColorsSeal Brown, Cardinal Red, and White[1]
              
Websitewww.brownbears.com

Varsity athletics

The Bears participate in 28 NCAA sports. The Bears first fielded a football team in 1878, playing Amherst College in their inaugural game.[3]

The Bears participate in the following varsity sports:

Men's sports Women's sports
BaseballBasketball
BasketballCrew
CrewCross country
Cross countryField hockey
FootballGymnastics
Ice hockeyIce hockey
LacrosseLacrosse
SoccerRugby
Swimming & divingSoccer
TennisSoftball
Track & field †Swimming & diving
Water polo Tennis
Wrestling Track & field †
Volleyball
Water polo
Co-ed sports
Sailing
†: Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor.

Additions and subtractions

In 2011, a Special Committee recommended that Brown cut four varsity sports due to Brown's budget cut backs—men's fencing, women's fencing, men's wrestling, and women's skiing—and recommended elevating at least one women's sport to varsity status to ensure Title IX compliance.[4] These proposed changes would have reduced the number of varsity sports at Brown from 37 to 34. None of the four varsity programs were cut.

In May 2020, Brown announced they would transition eleven varsity programs—men’s and women’s fencing, men’s and women’s golf, women’s skiing, men’s and women’s squash, women’s equestrian, men’s indoor track and field, men’s outdoor track and field and men’s cross country—to club status. Women's sailing and coed sailing would become varsity programs. Brown had 38 varsity sports before the announced cuts (only Harvard and Stanford had more), but was the least successful Ivy League school, winning 2.8% of league titles from 2008 to 2018.[5]

Teams
See also: Brown Bears men's ice hockey and Brown Bears women's ice hockey

Football
Main article: Brown Bears football

The Brown Bears football team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Ivy League. Brown's first football team was fielded in 1878. The team plays its home games at the 20,000 seat Brown Stadium in Providence.

Men's basketball
Main article: Brown Bears men's basketball

The Brown Bears men's basketball team competes in the Ivy League. The Brown Bears have appeared in the NCAA Tournament two times, including the inaugural tournament in 1939. Their combined record is 0–2. The Brown Bears have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) one time. Their record is 0–1.

Women's basketball
Main article: Brown Bears women's basketball

The Brown Bears women's basketball team competes in the Ivy League. The Brown Bears have appeared in the NCAA Tournament once in 1994, where their record was 0–1.

Men's soccer
Main article: Brown Bears men's soccer

The Brown Bears men's soccer team compete in the NCAA Division I in the Ivy League. The Bears have been semifinalists in the NCAA tournament in 1968, 1973, and 1975. They also finished in fourth place in 1977.[6]

Rugby

Women's rugby at Brown was originally founded as a club team, Brown Women's RFC, in 1977.[7] Brown added rugby as a varsity sport for women beginning in the 2014-15 academic year, due in part to the growth of rugby across communities and at the high school level.[8] Brown women's rugby is led by Head Coach Kathy Flores.[9]

Brown has offered men's rugby at Brown as a club sport since 1960.[10] Brown plays in the Ivy Rugby Conference against its traditional Ivy League rivals. Brown men's rugby is led by Head Coach David Laflamme. Despite its club status, Brown men's rugby is supported by an endowment raised by Brown rugby alumni that exceeds $1.5 million; this endowment funds the full-time professional head coaching position and other expenses.[10][11]

Championships

NCAA team championships

Brown has 7 NCAA team national championships.[12]

Non-NCAA team championships
  • Coed Sailing (2)
    • Coed Dinghy National Champions (2): 1942, 1948 [13]
  • Women's Sailing (5)
    • Women's Dinghy National Champions (5): 1985, 1988, 1989, 1998, 2019 [14]

Mascot
Bruno skates in Meehan Auditorium

Brown's first mascot was a burro, first introduced in 1902 in a game against Harvard.[15] The burro mascot was not retained after it seemed frightened by the noise of the game, and due to the laughter it provoked.[16] The University originally settled on the Bruin, but later changed it to a bear after the head of bear was placed at an archway above the student union in 1904.[16] In 1905 The Bears introduced Helen, the university's first live bear mascot, at a game against Dartmouth.[15] Bruno, Brown's current mascot, was introduced in 1921, originally also as a live bear.[16] A number of bears represented Bruno over the years, later being represented by a person in costume by the late 60's.[16]

Notable athletes

The Bears have produced many athletes. One of Brown's most famous athletes is John Heisman, namesake of the Heisman Trophy. Before finishing college at the University of Pennsylvania, Heisman played college football at Brown as a lineman.[17]

Football

Baseball

Rowing

Ice hockey

Other sports

References
  1. "Brown University Visual Identity Policy and Strategy" (PDF). Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  2. "Athletics and Recreation". Brown University. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  3. "Celebrating 125 Years of Brown Football". Archived from the original on 2008-03-24. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  4. "Brown to cut three intercollegiate sports", Go Local Prov, April 23, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  5. "Brown University to cut 11 varsity sports", Providence Journal, May 28, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  6. http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_soccer_champs_records/2012/D1/champs.pdf
  7. Rosenberg, David (2015-04-19). "What Life Is Like on Brown University's All-Female Rugby Team". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  8. "Women’s rugby is Brown’s 38th varsity sport", News from Brown, April 14, 2014.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2016-10-26.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "University Rugby Recognition—Success at Brown", Rugby Today, Allyn Freeman, February 27, 2015.
  11. "Brown University Men Select Head Coach" Archived 2015-09-12 at the Wayback Machine, Rugby Today, September 8, 2015.
  12. http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/champs_records_book/Overall.pdf
  13. https://collegesailing.org/hall-of-fame/regattas/henry-a.-morss-memorial-trophy
  14. https://collegesailing.org/hall-of-fame/regattas/miller-trophy
  15. "Football at Brown: QUARTER 1 (1878–1909)". Archived from the original on 2008-03-27. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  16. "Encyclopedia Brunoniana". Retrieved 2008-04-18.
  17. Pennington, Bill (2006-12-08). "John Heisman, the Coach Behind the Trophy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
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