One 'Mighty Banyan'

Sarasota native Anna Lazzara will forever be in the history and lore of New College of Florida. In June 2023, she created and sketched what is now the college’s mascot — the Mighty Banyans.

It’s a wonderful story of college spirit and pride, and it fits the phrase: “Local girl makes good.”

Not many people know the story of Lazzara’s creation. That’s largely because when the New College Board of Trustees and its president, Richard Corcoran, approved the adoption of the new mascot, as usual, the “againsters” panned it.

One of the critics stated the final illustration of Lazzara’s creation was racist, referring to it as reminiscent of the Tarzan books “full of vile racial stereotyping.”

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The student rep on the board of trustees complained the student body deserved to have more of say in whether to retire the college’s previous mascot, “Null Set,” in favor of the Mighty Banyans.

Oh, please. For one, whatever the heck is a “Null Set?” How inspiring. And, really? New College is not a democracy. No school is.

It was unfortunate the whining drowned out what should have been celebrated: That one of Sarasota’s own — a native, lifelong Sarasotan and graduate of Sarasota High — is the Mighty Banyans’ creator. No small thing. 

It’s a story that will be part of the Lazzara family lore for generations — as well as being cemented in the history of New College.   

Anna Lazzara, 21, is the daughter of Scott and Leanne Lazzara, also lifelong Sarasotans. Lazzara’s father, who moved to Sarasota at age 4, is the founder and owner of Florida Payroll Consultants, a 15-year-old, independent payroll/PEO and employee benefits outsourcing brokerage. Leanne Lazzara is the office manager of her brother’s chiropractic practice and also a bartender/server at a Del Webb community clubhouse.

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“She’s a Chatty Cathy,” Lazzara says of her mother. “She likes talking with people.” 

As the saying goes: Apples don’t fall far from the tree.

Talk to Lazzara, and you’ll find she overflows with positive effervescence and enthusiasm. 

Lazzara will be a senior this coming fall, majoring in humanities and museum studies. She chose New College almost by happenstance. She wanted a liberal arts college and was considering Rollins College in Winter Park or Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. But then her cousin, an alumna of New College, suggested she take a look. “I was blown away,” Lazzara says.

She loves New College — especially now that the physical campus has been transformed. “I like to show off my campus, especially being from Sarasota. It’s like a point of pride for me, like a point of pride for our city for our area.”

In the course of interviewing Lazzara recently about her three years at New College and how the atmosphere of the college has changed, the subject of the creation of the Mighty Banyan came up. That was all it took. 

In her own words, here is how the Mighty Banyans came to be:

“When they announced that they were going to come up with a new mascot, they sent out this survey with some options. I was like, ‘No, these aren’t any good. They don’t represent what New College is.’ 

“So I said, ‘What if I come up with my own idea?’ I’m an artist, a creative person. 

“I was thinking about the spirit of New College, because I feel very, very connected to New College and its past — especially having a family member who’s an alumna. And I know that this place is unique. It’s never going to be your run-of-the-mill state school, so I knew it couldn’t have a mascot that was just average.

“I was thinking about our natural landscape at New College. OK, what’s something that really represents New College? What’s something that’s here on campus? 

“I was thinking: Oh my gosh, we have so many banyan trees on this campus and over next door at the Ringling Museum. 

“They’re everywhere, and people gather at the banyan trees. We have parties under the banyan trees. I was thinking this is such a central figure to New College culture. Even in the 1960s, they were talking about the banyan trees. They’ve been here forever. 

“I was like: ‘Oh my gosh, what if we were the Mighty Banyans?’

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“So I did this sketch, and I swear it took me, I don’t know, five, 10 minutes. I was, like, I need to make it look athletic because this is for an athletics program.

So I did this kind of flexing pose, right? I was, like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so in the moment, this is so funny; I’m going to keep this for myself as a little memento of my time, and they’re going to move on and choose their mascot.’ 

“I showed it to my mom, and she said, ‘Anna, no, you have to bring this to somebody. This is awesome. This could really be something.’

“So we actually went together and went to visit (athletic director) Mariano Jimenez in his office. We showed him, and he was like, ‘Wow, this is really cool. I will definitely support this in conversations with the president.’

“Then flash forward a week later. I got an email from the president’s executive assistant asking to meet with me, and then we talked about it. He made sure it was my original idea and I didn’t take it from anywhere.

“Then they hired a company to do the actual logo, but I retained the actual sketch.

“It’s been the highlight of my time at New College.”

Matt Walsh will be on leave until October.