This information was located in the Mystician (school newspaper) dated March 28, 1988.
Mystics Mascot Derived From 1940 Cartoon, By Irene Voth
It was 1940. For over a year, Jimmy Boutrous had been arranging fund-raisers and soliciting the support of the students and faculty of Bismarck’s junior college and the Bismarck community. Now, the money had been raised and the administration won over. George "Shaky" Schaumberg had consented to be the coach. He would have no trouble filling the roster with names of eager players. Only one thing more was needed to give birth to the first basketball team of BJC: a name.
"So we had a contest and the class voted to come up with the name Mystics," remembers Ted Boutrous, Bismarck attorney and member of BJC’s first graduating class. "We thought it had a good sound and it had never been used in Bismarck."
Nickie Barbie, a retired Bismarck educator who was an original Mystic recalls, "It (the Mystics) came out of a newspaper comic strip. There was this guy … a wizard or magician or something. Comic strips were just coming into fashion and we were young and it appealed to us."
Side note: There has been a mascot to go along with the Mystics nickname beginning about 1993. The evolution of the mascot is shown at right.