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Syracuse University alumna Margo Moran’s latest tattoo is representative of the relationships and memories she made at college. The ink on her right arm isn’t an orange or another typical SU symbol. It’s a cowbell, representative of a dog she adopted with her roommates.

“God forbid if I’d gone somewhere else (for college), I never would have met these people and I wouldn’t be me,” Moran said. “All of the best parts of my life wouldn’t be what they are without the people I met at Syracuse, so this tattoo absolutely represents that for me.”

Whether meaningful or lighthearted, many SU students each year get a tattoo related to the university. Syracuse-themed tattoos spike during graduation season, said Halo Tattoo artist Mike Delaney, but students and alumni request SU tattoos year-round.

Sometimes, Syracuse residents ask for tattoos of the campus or professors ask for tattoos of their subject matter. Delaney often does plants for SUNY ESF professors or outlines of the JMA Wireless Dome for Syracuse residents.

On one occasion, a group of students requested the same Otto the Orange tattoo. Delaney learned the members of the group had all been Otto mascots during their time at SU.

The most popular SU-related tattoos Delaney does are university logos and oranges — both Otto or otherwise. He said many seniors get SU tattoos as a sort of “road map,” a way to mark the occasion of the next steps in their journeys. Moran said SU alumni are more passionate about their alma mater than many other alumni.

“Maybe everyone feels that way about their school, but I can’t imagine any other place being as special as Syracuse,” Moran said.

Moran, along with friends Mary Shalaby and Brita Evans, got her tattoo last year to commemorate adopting Cowbell. They found the pitbull wandering around Thornden Park before naming and adopting him.

“Much of what was so special about that dog was that he really changed the nature of our relationship,” Moran said. “It made the three of us bonded for life so this tattoo was a way of kind of signifying — especially since (Evans) and I were graduating — that permanent bond between us.”

The SU community embraced Cowbell, Moran said. She described him as an “overnight sensation” and a “campus celebrity.” When he was diagnosed with cancer, the community helped fundraise for his medical expenses.

“(Students were) donating a lot of money …to help us get him surgery. People cared so much about this dog,” Moran said. “I don’t know if that would happen at another school. It felt very specific to Syracuse and what makes us special.”

For Moran, her tattoos are simultaneously silly and meaningful. She has a tattoo of a pigeon that represents her connection with her mom, but is a “goofy” design as well.

Joe Zhao | Assistant Photo Editor

Junior Janna Van Vranken shows off her orange tattoo on her ankle. Van Vranken has lived in Syracuse her whole life and it’s now a piece of home always with her.

Sophomore Jo Konjufca also sees tattoos as something both sentimental and silly. She has five tattoos, choosing designs related to memories she finds “monumental.”

When Konjufca met Matthew Gray Gubler, an actor in “Criminal Minds,” she explained to him that SU’s mascot is an orange. She asked him to draw an orange tattoo, so he drew a circle around the word “orange.” Konjufca got his drawing tattooed on her ankle shortly after.

“I wanted to get (that moment) tattooed as a memory,” Konjufca said. “It’s like two of my interests in one … It’s also just fun to talk about. If someone were to ask, ‘Oh, what’s that,’ it’s fun to go back in that memory lane.”

Konjufca visited her family attending SU while she was in high school, and “fell in love” with the university after visiting family who also attended SU. She said the college is more important to her because she has wanted to go since then.

Syracuse University junior Janna Van Vranken got an orange tattooed on her ankle during her freshman year. The tattoo has many meanings, both goofy and serious; she is a Syracuse native and worked on ‘Cuse Tonight at CitrusTV, but, most of all, the tattoo is “a good bit.”

Van Vranken’s executive producer announced she was getting a tattoo for the show in 2021 and asked if anyone wanted to join. She thought “Why not?” and considers the orange on her ankle as a “little piece of home that will follow (her).”

“I was born and raised in Syracuse, I’ve lived here my entire life. It’s very much my home, and I think home is a special thing to me,” Van Vranken said. “Then, I also go to school here, so it’s like, ‘Baby bleeds orange through and through.’”

Published on February 28, 2024 at 10:39 pm