Bay View Mascot Named In Honor Of Former Student

EAST PROVIDENCE, RI—After 35 years, the previously-nameless St. Mary Academy Bay View mascot, a Bengal tiger, has been given a name, according to a press release from the school.

North Providence resident and Cumberland native Michelle Cavanagh, class of ’86, started a Change.org petition earlier this fall, asking St. Mary Academy Bay View to consider naming its mascot “Angell” in honor of classmate Sue Angell Malone , class of ’86, a Providence native who is now living McLean, Virginia.

Cavanagh and Malone, who have remained lifelong friends, founded the Bay View Spirit Club together while attending the school and Malone, who is currently living with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, led the initiative to change the school’s mascot from the Blazer to the Bengal in 1986.

Cavanagh hoped that naming the mascot would be a celebration of the Class of 1986’s 35th reunion and a way to pay tribute to Malone.

“Our sister Susan Angell Malone is a fighter,” said Cavanagh in the online petition. “Sue is a warrior who has fought stage four Pancreatic Cancer for years like the Bengal she is. She exemplifies what it is to be a Bengal.”

The petition reached the Bay View Student Council, which unanimously voted on naming the Bengal “Angell."

A five-minute documentary, A Bengal Gets Her Name, has been created to tell the story of the Bay View mascot and the friendship behind it.