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ABOUT 40 YEARS AND COUNTING
And still no "official" mascot.
Some years
ago, while I attended the football during a reunion in Hanover, a person in a moose costume was introduced by the play-by-play
announcer who invited all to vote on its acceptance as The College's new mascot. Years later, the moose, though popular,
is still not the official mascot. As a result, there literally was/is another CAN-didate, called "Keggy," which
arose to humorously fill the vacuum. It's a clever idea, but unfortunately one that does nothing but diminish the FRANCHISE
VALUE of all in the Dartmouth Community.
THEREFORE, IT'S APPROPRIATE
THAT
THE DARTMOUTH MASCOT / SYMBOL
/ CULTURE
IS TOPIC #1 OF "MY DARTMOUTH"
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Overview
For Want Of A Culture
Summary
The decision to drop the Indian
imagery is of no issue to me or this effort.
It's over. It's done.
Nonetheless, I believe that
The College dismisses the loss of the symbol
without understanding that for
50 or more classes durings its use
the symbol was
more than an icon; it was a culture
respectfully woven into
ceremonies
which The College adopted and
made official via the concept
of implied consent.
For some families,
that's three generations
of graduates!
When The College discontinued the Indian symbol an unintended consequence of at least equal importance was it also disenfranchised
thousands of students, alums, and college community from a campus CULTURE.
Since then, The College, student, and alums have wandered in search of a mascot not due to a lack of ideas, but a A LACK
OF CULTURE in which that mascot/symbol could thrive.
Unlike other colleges and universities which can have banana slugs on up as mascots, Dartmouth College needs
a CULTURE through which its symbol has meaning. It is this fact that made the disappearance of the Native American CAMPUS
CULTURE a real loss. Likewise, it has been the attempts to replace a symbol WITHOUT first establishing the culture
such an impossible task.
Dartmouth's need for a CULTURE is woven into the lore of the institution; a CULTURE in which its mascot,
symbols, traditions, and studies can thrive.
As a '64 graduate, I lived through years when The College and the Classes treated the the Indian and the culture with
regard, despite some retail ceramic figurines to the contrary as well as words in a song.
Therefore, MORE DISTRESSING to me was the backpeddling by The College on the entire Indian issue, when in fact it created the
POSITIVE culture around it. It was The College that put the Indian symbols on the athletic shirts. It was The College that
had the Pipe traditions, songs, chants, etc.
Times change... sensitivities change... and cultures advance (hopefully) through this process.
Still, leaders lead from the front. Notwithstanding, The College became childlike and blamed the whole Indians
on a sports writer, as if one such person could cause all the trapping to appear in Hanover.
Whatever.
The problem was that when the Indian left... the CAMPUS CULTURE left; and, The College either failed address
this fact or was totally oblivious to it. A void was created. As nature abhors vacuums, into it came
moose, other animals... and of course the delightfully irreverent Keggy... a brilliant idea... just a wrong message for
any college where 75% of the student body is under legal drinking age.
Today, the primary surviving mascot seems to be the BULL Moose... or the DartMoose as it has been called.
BUT FOR THE LIFE OF ME, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY A WOMEN'S SPORTS TEAM WOULD WANT TO HAVE A BULL MOOSE
WITH ANTLERS AS ITS MASCOT.
After all, bull moose antlers are only grown and displayed during mating season... ( an non-gential erection of
sorts where size does matter for dominance) and the females are left unadorned... just in heat (estreus) and ready
to recieve the alpha bull.
Huh! Is that what gender equality is all about? Doubtfully so.
Enter the reindeer / caribou and a culture
Long before the moose even showed on campus... reindeer and the people who herded them were in Dartmouth studies
My reindeer have nothing to do with the remarkable fairytale reinder named Rudolph created by Dartmouth Grad...
My reindeer have all to do with equality... durabliblty.... useability as mascots on campus (ala Bebo Texas Long horse,
the Trojan Horse USC, Ugga at Univerity of GA....
sustainability... fashionability... and an ENDURING CULTURE from which we all can learn.
| AD Harry Sheehy Launches Dartmouth
Peak Performance |
HANOVER, N.H. --
Dartmouth College Director of Athletics and Recreation Harry Sheehy today announced
a broad new initiative entitled Dartmouth Peak Performance (DP2).
"DP2 will serve as an umbrella
for the integration of existing services and increased resources targeted at helping our student-athletes achieve the
highest levels of physical, intellectual and personal growth during their Dartmouth careers," explained Sheehy. "Each area
of performance -- academic, athletic and personal -- will be bolstered by the collaborative efforts
of many professionals across campus. <<<< ADD CULTURAL
Dartmouth President Jim Yong Kim stated, "We
think that by bringing together the focus on our student-athletes' academic performance, athletic performance and also on
personal areas like leadership and personal wellness, we can not only get them to their highest possible potential as athletes,
but prepare them for life in ways that are extremely important."
ADD UNDERSTANDING is the key to CONCERN which is the key to PEACE
A physician, anthropologist and former collegiate
athlete himself, Dr. Kim added, "Our intention is that as we get better and better at bringing athletes to their peak performance
on the field, in the classroom and in their personal lives, those lessons will begin to spread to the entire campus."
<<< ADD WORLD SOCIETIES
Every now and then, great bodies whose gravitational
masses pull things together align. The presences of President Kim and Athletic Director Sheehy at Dartmouth College
are two such bodies.
While their executive positions provide the authority
to make things happen, it is their commonality in core values -- excellence, performance, enabling, ultimate achievement --
which are the more important factors that align the vectors to tug in one sirection.
Today, at Dartmouth, there is finally after over almost
40 years, a chance to unify The College under a mascot
(1) which EMBODIES THE CORE VALUES of both leaders;
(2) which is MEANINGFUL within the founding and recent
history of Dartmouth College,
(3) plus which oddly unque among college mascots and
(4) while ironically reflects one of the most
famous of all animals of all, though there will be no confusion with this copyrighted animal.
Announcing the Reindeer and "The Reigning Dartmouth
Deer"
A symbol of dominance for both genders...
A symbol of strength for both genders...
A symbol tied to the northern clime of and study
at Dartmouth
A symbol of civility for both genders
A symbol of livelihood and caring to people
A symbols of fashion, decors, c
A SYMBOL OF CULTURE THAT TIES DIRECTLY TO DARTMOUTH'S
HISTORICAL CONCERNS FOR NATIVE PEOPLE, COLD WEATHER
STUDIES,
AND EQUALITY/DIVERSITY.
A Future
"BIG GREEN BOU"
Dartmouth
'16, '17, '18, '19, '20...
Forever!
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MISSION -- OPINION -- ACTION
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MY GOAL regarding Dartmouth's mascot is simple and clear: To UNIFY
a criteria and recognition of a mascot / symbol by The College and to develop and nurture a campus culture around it. There
have been many efforts. None have produced the desired result.
As it happens, college/universities and mascot/symbols is often an uncertain relationship
and process. For the past seven years, I have been tracking such matters. It's been an eye-opener.
THE PAST Indian symbol, symbolisms, and traditions are not at issue here. Decades
ago, The College made its decision to discontinue their collective use and rededicate itself to Native American Studies.
HOWEVER, The College is culpable for about 40 years of disruptions,
which have followed, all caused by The College's inability to define a process by which a new mascot/symbol and culture would
be officially affirmed. In its indecision, or perhaps, "unofficial-decision-not-to-decide," The College has forgetten
about the the origins of the school, the culture evolving from that origin, the feelings, needs, and efforts of
alumni, students, The College image, licensed revenue itself, and the local merchants who are a part of the Dartmouth experience
and community.
Count it! Approximately 140,000 on campus student-years ( that's 35,000 alumni from
35 graduating classes) would have already enjoyed the New Dartmouth Mascot and Culture had The College acted
immediately and officially to establish a criteria, sought suggestions, and then selected the best. And this huge number
does not include alumni-years.
WHEN THE COLLEGE discontinued the Indian symbol, regardless of the merits, it in
essence amputated a culture of lore, songs, pipes, walking canes and more, without offering a metaphorical prosthetic culture around
which 30,000 graduates would have organically infiltrated with real passion over time. If one subscribes to the concept that
"one get's what s/he deserves," the irrepressible, aluminum mascot "KEGGY" is both proof of the expression and of a prosthetic
around which no cultural re-growth is possible.
ALL MASCOT selections, set forth herein, go far beyond mascots and imagery to incorporate
total immersion programs for The College and Community. It is my belief that
NO MASCOT, ALONE, WILL REPLACE THE MISSING COLLEGE CULTURE.
I WILL TRAVEL to Hanover to present and discuss the merits of any or all the
mascot/symbols which are mentioned in this site.
I WILL DEBATE at the Hop, with Internet streaming coverage so that alumni throughout
the world can view and then vote, the merits of my first choice, REINDEER/CARIBOU versus the current favorite MOOSE about
which I have great affection and use, as visitors will read in MOOSE vs REINDEER. Nonetheless, THE MOOSE is not
the best choice for The College, alumni, students, and merchants... And, I'll argue the reasons.
REGARDLESS of The College's final mascot DECISION, I will support this decision
to help immerse it into the fabric of The College.
REGARDING The College's mascot/symbol continual INDECISION, I will work
around The College to promote to others my first selection, REINDEER / CARIBOU, and to have them profit from
this choice. This is no veiled threat. I have clearly incorporated pages within this site that illustrate my
campaign to students, Hanover merchants, and more.
ONE WAY or another, The College MUST make a decision.
No more cogent a case can be made for a mascot and symbol as presented. No more collegial generosity can be offered than to
openly debate the merits of vying mascots to facilitate a solution. No more openess can by given than to present my
gambits before The College's indecision.
IT'S D(escision)-DAY at the BIG D
Will The College rise to the occasion?
If history is the swami, the answer
is "NO."
Still, optimistically... perhaps,
Polyannistically...
I say "YES!"
SHOULD "NO" be the answer, there will be people who will offer that had
I been more politic in my approach, perhaps there would have been a different result. Of course this is mathmatically
preposterous. There have been many other mascot attempts in the past thirty years and all have failed... polite or otherwise...
leaving The College, through many administrations, as the only unknown that has been common in all unresolved
equations.
THE COLLEGE may perceive that I have maneuvered it into "Check." or sorts.
I have not. Thirty years and indecision has. I have merely mapped the chessboard and suggested
simple yet comprehensive moves for The College to once again reign in this critical campus concern. Ruling has
never been more simple: Pick a unique mascot, or say "NO" to any further suggestion and live with "Big Green," which
is indistinguishable from hundreds of other Big Greens.
FINALLY, I HOPE that The College doesn't throw the baby -- ideas set forth -- out
with the bath water -- my approach. Yes, I do take the headshed to the woodshed... and more than once. That's because
I believe that The College deserves it for failing to accept its responsibility and to assume its
rightful leadership role in this matter. It's not because od issues vented on Page Two of "My Dartmouth."
UNDERSTAND...
I'VE INVESTED OVER 4 WORK WEEKS ASSEMBLING THIS SITE FOR ONLY ONE PURPOSE; TO FACILITATE THE COLLEGE HAVING NEW
MASCOT, SYMBOL, AND CULTURE BY WINTER CARNIVAL, 2005... EVEN IF IT'S NOT ONE OF MY PROPOSALS.
The Class of 2005... and all Classes hence, should be graduated under one new one; as
should alumni have one with which they can grow comfortable and support over time, which realistically it will take.
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"DARTMOUTH REIGNDEER,"
"REIGNING DARTMOUTH DEER"
and the "BIG GREEN BOU"
are currently trademarks & names,
held by John Sottile, which will
be given - with stipulations - to
The College upon its approval
of Reindeer/Caribou as mascot.
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