With over 450 votes cast in a school-wide contest, NYU Shanghai selected sophomore Naomi Losman's qilin design to represent Athletics and Special University Events as the University's official mascot. Losman won the mascot competition with her design of the mythical hooved chimerical creature known in Chinese as the qilin (Chinese: 麒麟; pinyin: qílín), beating out designs that featured a panda, dragon, lion, and an original creature.
The qilin symbolizes serenity, luck, and prosperity, and is usually depicted covered in flames—not too far off from NYU Shanghai’s magnolia flower logo, composed of four NYU torches.
The qilin, as a patchwork creature of many animals forming a new being, also reflects the NYU Shanghai environment—a community of unique and talented individuals working and living in harmony.