Bantam
The mascot of Trinity College is the bantam, “Banty.” In the animal world, a bantam can be a smaller version of a chicken breed, or a “true bantam,” which has no larger counterpart.
The origin of Trinity’s mascot can be traced to a spirited speech that an alumnus and judge, the Honorable Joseph Buffington, Class of 1875, gave at an 1899 Princeton Alumni Association dinner. The full speech is transcribed in the May 1899 Trinity Tablet.
In his speech, Buffington compared Harvard, Yale, and Princeton to “the big chanticleers of the collegiate barnyard,” and described Trinity as a proud, unfazed rooster who can fit in anywhere, and with any company: “he is glad to be here, is not a whit abashed at your hugeness, [and] is satisfied with himself and his own particular coop.” Buffington went on to say a Trinity education had different principles than the other colleges, and instilled in each student “an individuality which leads him to size things from his own standpoint, and not have somebody else size them for him.”
The name caught on with Trinity students and alumni. The press also started referring to Trinity athletic teams as the Bantams—and the name still stands today.