Five Ridiculous Times Mascots Triggered Campuses This Year

Mascots are leaders of the college crowd. They symbolize the school that brought them into existence and carry on its campus spirit. Americans love ’em.

Fictional sports figureheads complete with full war dress or the fuzziest of attire — they can be whatever the college wants them to be. One part fighter and one part clown, they are sideline rabble-rousers and mischief-making provocateurs.

It’s no small irony that these mascots would trigger the very colleges that brought them into being.

Here are five of the most ridiculous times mascots triggered liberal college campuses in 2018.

1.) The Crusader at Holy Cross. If one thought a college with the name of Holy Cross would be comfortable with Christian imagery, one would be wrong.

In March, the board of trustees at the private Roman Catholic college disposed of the cross in its logo and did away with the Christian knight mascot. The college decided to keep the team’s Crusader name, however, apparently weary from the last name change in 1925, when it did away with two Native American names and axed the college newspaper “The Tomahawk.”

2.) The Aztec Warrior at SDSU. This past Monday, San Diego State University announced it would no longer have the Aztec Warrior as its mascot. But if one thought this meant the end of honoring the ancient people and their fearsome reputation — it would be a mistaken assumption.

The Aztec Warrior will be getting an extreme makeover to soften his scary demeanor. He will also assume the title of “Spirit Leader.” All is well!

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3.) The Fighting Irish’s Leprechaun. One of the most unexpected critiques of a college mascot came from ESPN’s Max Kellerman in January. He expressed his opposition to the Notre Dame Leprechaun, the rambunctious spirit of the Fighting Irish.

“Man, Irish Americans are not offended, but many are,” Kellerman said. “Should that also change? The answer is yes. Unequivocally yes. Pernicious, negative stereotypes of marginalized people, that offend, even some among them, should be changed. It’s not that hard.”

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4.) Prospector Pete at Cal State Long Beach. The gold-digging prospector isn’t very welcome at its university. Pete, you see, is guilty of reflecting California’s history of genocide against indigenous peoples.

A student group at the college voted in May to send Prospector Pete packing — and for him to take his statue with him. The university, for its part, isn’t quite ready yet to part with the campus mascot.

“I think if the people know about the history we can move on and learn from it, instead of just acting like it never existed,” a student told CBS LA. A novel idea, although not likely welcome.

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5.) Chief Illiniwek at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was perhaps inevitable that Chief Illiniwek would come under attack as a racist relic of an outdated past.

In April, after taking heat about its mascot, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones put it simply enough: “The chief is not coming back.”

Ever the fighter, Chief Illiniwek will survive this round of politically correct purging, however; he will carry on his chiefly duties in an unofficial capacity. After holding group therapy sessions in the form of a series of lectures, the college leadership will “rehabilitate” Chief Illiniwek’s war-fighting persona to a much friendlier one.

The issue with college mascots is they are, by nature, stereotypical. To wit:

• One could argue the Georgia Bulldog’s new mascot, Uga, is stereotyping dogs, because not all of them are short and pudgy, or wear ridiculously broad smiles.
• Clemson Tiger’s mascot stereotypes tigers, because not all of them are hideously orange and look like Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger.
• USC’s mascot, the white horse Traveler, is a stereotype of horses because, obviously, not all horses are majestic and white. It also is a stereotype of the Trojans as a legendary warrior people of ancient Greek myth.

College mascots were selected decades ago to symbolize universities and to represent their sports teams. Images and figures in the popular imagination were often chosen because they evoked a sense of the fighting spirit.

But today, when a belligerent character is considered offensive, it is inevitable that such icons would come under assault from the aggressively politically correct.

Kyle Becker is a content writer and producer with LifeZette. Follow him on Twitter. 

(photo credit, homepage image: Illiniwek and Marching Band, CC BY 2.0, by soundfromwayout; photo credit, article image: Notre Dame Leprechaun, CC BY-SA 2.0, by Ken Lund)