Rival college mascots aid ALS walk

Endicott College will host the North Shore Walk to Defeat ALS on Sunday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at its campus on Hale Street. Ahead of the fund-raising walk, the private college’s mascot, Gullie the Seagull, helped kick things off with a playful challenge to his rival, Scottie the Lion, the mascot at Gordon College in Wenham. They squared off in the Mascot Ice Bucket Battle Royale, to help raise even more money for the Massachusetts Chapter of the ALS Association. Each college hosted an ice bucket challenge — where people dump buckets of cold water over their heads — featuring the other college’s mascot. About 400 students from each college took part, said Ashley Carrier, director of community engagement at the ALS association. The battle aimed to get more college-age students involved to help find a cure for the debilitating neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. “We’ve always struggled reaching the younger demographic,” Carrier said. But thanks, in part, to the rival mascots, Carrier said, this year’s walk has had success registering college-age individuals — nearly 50 more than in past walks. Officials at each college said there’s a serious purpose behind the good-natured rivalry. “We support trying to find a cure for people who do suffer from ALS, to try to slow down the progression of the disease,” said Lauri Rawls, an organizer at Endicott. Added Tucker Van Brunt, a staff member at Gordon, “It’s a kind of back-and-forth egging on, solely with the goal of benefiting ALS,” he said.