Medium sized university in the Northwest, gosh that sounds familiar. I'm guessing large is WSU, U of O, OSU, and UW, medium is us and the Montana schools (if you count Montana in the NW) as well as EWU and UPS, and small is Whitman, Linfield, PSU, BSU, Albertson, ISU and Willamette?
I was imagining from your post that it was a necklace that Wilma Flintstone or Betty Rubble would wear, or something borrowed from Mrs. Roper on Three's Company. Huge beads and animal teeth
I'd check with the groups to see if the animal is their mascot per Zillini's suggestion. I'm an alumna though, so if you are going through at UI you don't have to worry about me seeing it.