Remembering Powell Cat
It might be a full circle around the sun since UCLA’s beloved unofficial mascot Powell Cat passed, but their legacy lives on. Throughout their life, Powell Cat brought the UCLA campus community joy, comfort, luck and inspiration.
According to the Daily Bruin, Powell Cat’s origin story starts in 2015, when they first appeared on the UCLA campus. The black tuxedo cat liked to hang out by Powell Library, hence the name Powell Cat. In 2018, they moved down to the bushes left of Kaufman Hall, where they lived the rest of their life, cared for by volunteer student and staff caretakers.
On top of feeding UCLA’s favorite kitty, the caretakers would also take Powell Cat to the veterinarian. According to BruinLife magazine, during a visit to the vet, it was discovered that the cat was spayed/neutered but that their gender couldn’t be determined. In light of this fact, Powell Cat caretakers and fans liked to use they/them pronouns for the feline.
Powell Cat passed away March 9, 2023 at about 10 years old. In a 2023 article, the Daily Bruin quotes Kathy Brown, an assistant to the university librarian in the Charles E. Young Research Library and the primary staff caretaker of Powell Cat, who said that Powell Cat likely passed away from a heart attack after living with feline immunodeficiency virus, a common disease in cats that is nontransmissible to humans but increases a cat’s risk of contracting other diseases.
Many Bruins have fond memories of Powell Cat. The friendly feline brought comfort to Bruins coming out of long study sessions or missing their own pets at home. Powell Cat even had their own lore; according to UCLA superstition, seeing Powell Cat meant that good luck would follow.
Powell Cat was such a campus icon that in December 2022, students voting in the 10th annual Associated Students UCLA T-shirt contest chose a design featuring Powell Cat as the winner. The designer of the shirt, then-third-year English transfer student Linsey Montgomery, told the Daily Bruin that she chose Powell Cat as the subject of her design because they symbolized the campus community. Check out the design through the link below.
Although they have passed, Powell Cat remains just as beloved as they had been in life, and the feline will live on in the hearts of Bruins everywhere.
