From bumper magnets to basketball games, the Pirate is the face of Seton Hall. But few know the story of those students who step into the boots and bring the Pirate mascot to life.
It takes a special kind of passion and dedication to be a mascot. For Cory Cuttic, a finance major in the class of 2025, it began in high school when a teacher asked another student if they could be the Middlesex High School Blue Jay mascot.
“[The teacher was] like, ‘Hey, Timmy, you're gonna be the mascot, right?’” Cuttic said. “He said, ‘No, no, I can't. I'm doing track.’”
That’s when Cuttic saw an opportunity.
“I was like, ‘Hey, I could be the mascot,’ and then from there, that was the fateful moment when I became the high school mascot for four years,” Cuttic said.
Cuttic enjoyed that experience so much that he wanted to become the Pirate mascot for SHU. After speaking to many SHU departments and personnel, he applied. After applying, Cuttic had to attend a “dance off” audition. There are no height or weight requirements to apply or audition.
“I just found a love for it,” he said. “It's just nice to make people laugh and have that anonymity. You can just be silly.”
Pirate at SHU event│Photo via SHU Flickr
While looking for ways to get involved at SHU ahead of his freshman year, a 20-year-old student, who requested anonymity per SHU Athletics requirements and to keep the “magic” of the mascot, said it dawned upon him that he wanted to become the Pirate.
“It's probably the coolest thing you can do and I'm really passionate about the school,” he said. “I really like doing energetic things, so it's fun to just bring the energy.”
So far, the 20-year-old student has completed two seasons as the Pirate.
Becoming the Pirate was a different story for Trevor Russomano, who got his bachelor’s degree from SHU in 2024 and stayed on to earn an MBA in 2025.
As an undergraduate, Russomano was a part of the Student Alumni Association (SAA). During his junior year, he was putting together an event that was supposed to feature the Pirate. But at the last minute, the Pirate had to cancel.
“I kind of volunteered,” Russomano said. “I was like, ‘Hey, I'm in the [SAA]. We have one of the mascot costumes, so I can sub in and do it real quick.’ And that's kind of how it started.”
During his senior year, Russomano interned with University Advancement, where he continued subbing as the Pirate.
Athletics v. Advancement
The Pirate mascot lives within two departments of the university: Athletics and Advancement.
The 20-year-old mascot, who we’ll call “James,” after Seton Hall’s founder, James Roosevelt Bayley, who works for both Athletics and Engagement, said each department handles the Pirate mascot differently.
“So Athletics—we have a calendar at the beginning of the basketball season, and then I'm put in for each day, like, ‘You have this game at Prudential Center, this game at Walsh Gym,’” he said.
“With Advancement, appearances sort of just come up, so they'll reach out to me and say, ‘Hey, do you want to go to a wedding at this venue on this day?’ And then I'll either say yes or no based on my availability.”
There is another crucial difference: Advancement pays per appearance, but Athletics doesn’t. That’s why Cuttic stopped doing appearances as the Pirate for Athletics his senior year.
“I do feel bad about it,” he said. “I enjoyed it, but for the effort, for the length of games and how much time it took, I was like, no, I need more justification for this.”
Mascot on the Move
As most SHU students can attest, the Pirate shows up at all kinds of events, from open houses and orientation to career fairs and graduation, usually greeting people or standing in front of a backdrop for pictures.
Cuttic went to on-campus events organized by the Student Activities Board (SAB) or student clubs. He attended off-campus events like weddings and birthday parties. All of it was scheduled through the mascot handler in Advancement. “James” said he’s done weddings and birthday parties as well, but also graduation and retirement parties.
And of course, there is no such thing as a basketball game without the Pirate in the crowd.
Although the Pirate attends some home games for every sport, his duties for men’s basketball games at the Prudential Center are the most intricately planned, according to “James.”
“At the beginning of the game, we'll greet the fans when they come in, then I'll go downstairs. We run the flags out with the cheerleaders, then we do the fight song and then there's different things that I have to do for each timeout,” he said.
“James” detailed a new segment added last basketball season called “Lighting the Rock.”
“I'll go up in the stands, and then, I take the sword and I point it at the court, and then everything turns blue,” “James” said. “Sort of my moment.”
Afterwards, the Pirate will hang out by the student section for most of the game, making appearances on and off the court during timeouts.
While it’s hard to match the excitement of Seton Hall basketball, “James” wants the Pirate to attend other games more often.
“That's something we're trying to do more of in this coming season—try to get to different sports to give them a little more attention,” “James” said.
Inside the Suit: The mascot’s reality
While representing SHU provides some fun opportunities, being the university’s mascot isn’t all glamorous.
The Pirate mascot at the annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony │Photo by Maria Levandoski
“It’s very physically demanding,” “James” said. “I've done two basketball games in one day, so the next day was obviously very rough. You sweat a lot. You are just very tired the next day.”
Besides being busy on their feet all day, the costume can get hot, making events more challenging.
“It gets really, really gross and sticky in there,” Russomano said. “So when you get fresh air, it is very nice.”
There are two Pirate suits that the mascots fight over, according to Cuttic. One is “really good” and the other is “really bad.” On the bad one, Cuttic said, “The strap is broken, the belt is always falling down—it’s not actually attached to the torso. It's so old it's discolored… and the boots—they're just not as clean, your feet don't stick in them as well.”
But whichever suit the Pirate is wearing, the mystery behind the mask remains.
“I would be in the costume and I would go to my friends thinking they realize that it's me, but they really have no idea,” Russomano said. “And I can't talk to them. You have to be silent.”
The Mascot Network
Being SHU’s Pirate has kickstarted Cuttic’s mascot career through the connections he’s made. Earlier this year, when he mascoted at a ski resort, he met the New York Red Bulls mascot, REDD.
“We’re friends at this point, because we’ve been at a few gigs together,” Cuttic said. “We started talking outside the suit, and I’m like ‘Bro, how do you get the kind of gigs where you can go to Japan and stuff?’”
Cuttic said that the REDD referred him to someone at Wawa to continue his mascot career as Wally the Canadian Goose.
“I’m the Wawa mascot for all of North Jersey,” Cuttic said. “I’m extremely grateful for that. It’s a great way to network.”
Cuttic has also gotten to know the individual behind the mascot Sir Henry, Rutgers’ Scarlet Knight, and one of the individuals behind the Somerset Patriots mascot, Sparkee.
The big mystery: Does the Pirate have a name?
SHU’s mascot is often subject to name confusion. Depending on who you ask, the Pirate is sometimes called “Pirate,” “The Pirate,” or “Pete,” prompting the question: Does the Pirate have a name, or is it just a mystery?
Cuttic said the Pirate’s name is “Pete.” When he was at an event in Bethany Hall, he motioned over to the name tags lined up on the table.
“They wrote ‘Pirate,’ and me not being able to correct them, just took it and just put it on,” he said.
“James,” however, said the Pirate mascot’s name is “Pirate.” When people approach him while he’s suited up, they ask if the Pirate’s name is Pete. He always shakes his head, “No.”
“I think just because it sort of rhymes like Pirate, Pete, because a lot of mascots—their names are alliterations, ” “James” said.
Russomano said that he didn’t know if the Pirate had a name or not.
Cuttic also acknowledged some alumni, students and faculty believe the Pirates’ name is “Pirate,” not “Pete.”
“Some people think it's ‘Pirate.’ Some people think it's ‘Pete.’ Maybe it is ‘Pirate.’ Maybe I've misunderstood,” he said.
Name or no name, the Pirate’s personality is brought to life by the individual in the suit, channeling their unique character. This allows the Pirate to have depth as a mascot.
“It’s kind of up to the individual,” “James” said. “He’s definitely got to be funny, mischievous…and he definitely needs a lot of energy to keep everybody going.”
The Pirate may have no name, but these students give him a soul.
“Anyone can put on a pirate suit, but few people can truly play the character as he's meant to be,” “James” said.
Dominique Mercadante is the Editor in Chief of The Setonian. She can be reached at dominique.mercadante@student.shu.edu.
