DU Pioneers: Mascot Committee will not be Adopting a new Mascot

Looking at Denver mascot choices, I don’t blame them for not wanting to pick a mascot after all. In a way, this is what I am hoping that the University of North Dakota does. I would rather see no mascot at all. I kind of like just being the University of North Dakota. I know some people are irritated by the sports writers calling UND the Green and White, but it’s better than being some stupid moniker none of us can embrace or get behind.

Caitlin Swieca, Denver Post --- After a months-long controversy surrounding the University of Denver's mascot, the DU Pioneers community has spoken and said it would prefer to have no mascot at all. The news came as DU's Mascot Steering Committee announced the findings of its research on Friday and recommended that none of the considered mascots move forward as they are currently designed.

A survey containing three mascot options— an elk, a jackalope and a mountaineer — was sent to DU students and alumni in July, asking them to evaluate the concepts against 20 attributes of the DU community.

More than 8,000 community members participated in the survey, more than three times the expected response. The release by the committee said that nearly 70 percent of respondents were either receptive or neutral to moving forward with a new mascot, but were not aligned on what that mascot should be.

DU Logo possibilities, just say no...

According to the DU Clarion, this is the three final mascot selections what the DU Mascot Steering Committee has released in a survey to approximately 75,000 recipients. The DU Mascot Steering Committee is looking to receive feedback on three final potential mascots. Yeah, how about none of the above... If you're wondering what these three characters are, there is an elk, a jackalope and finally a mountaineer.

As an alumnus of a university that recently retired a popular nickname and logo, I am afraid a travesty such as this could happen at UND.  Incidentally, UND will begin selecting a new logo and nickname in 2015. I like many North Dakota alumni will be watching. Seriously, this could happen at UND as well, if we're not proactive.

Related articles

• DU Pioneers mascot "Denver Boone" at center of controversy: Let's Go DU shuts down (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Denver Boone wins suppressed mascot poll at DU (denverpost.com)

DU Pioneers mascot "Denver Boone" at center of controversy: Let's Go DU shuts down

This week, Damien Goddard of Let's Go DU announced that, “After eight years, 1.5 million visits, 5755 posts, 32,596 reader comments and countless laughs; LetsGoDU is ceasing operations today. LetsGoDU averaged 30 visits a day in 2005 to almost a thousand visits per day in recent years and its been a wonderful journey. We launched a mascot, built school spirit to unprecedented heights, covered many epic victories and more than a few heartbreaking DU losses. To those who supported DU through this Blog [du78 & many others] and helped PioNation fight the good fight, we say thank you.” At first, I thought that was kind of odd, then I took a deeper look…. Yep, the DU nickname issue has gotten really silly.

Mike Chambers, Denver Post – Boone, created in 1968 from a Walt Disney character named "Pioneer," was DU's official mascot until 1998, and its unofficial mascot after alumni took it upon themselves to fill the void in 2009. Chancellor Robert Coombe in March announced that Boone will not be considered by a steering committee that has identified an elk, a jackalope and a mountaineer as finalists for a new mascot.

DU has not had a mascot since the red-tailed hawk and Ruckus were phased out to begin the 2007-08 season.

"There's no point in having the blog if we don't have Boone," said Damien Goddard, the LetsGoDU founder and DU graduate, class of 1989, who spearheaded the "Bring Back Boone" campaign in 2008. "Boone and the blog have become intertwined, and you can't have one without the other. And it's silly to have two mascots. If the school is going to march down this path of political correctness, we decided to let them go down that path alone."

This ought to be fun, tonight’s NCHC match-up between the UND no-names and the UND Jackalopes will go a long ways in determining this season’s NCHC champion. Yeah! Yay!

So, we are to believe that the Denver Boone mascot is racist character? Seriously? How? What world do these pointed headed people live in? Take a look at this mascot, this little smiling cartoon character is a racist.