Posted by
Neotrotsky on Sunday, January 04, 2009 6:17:40 AM
Isn't he just dangerous looking!
Washington Times
Denver axes mascot 'Boone' in diversity drive Valerie Richardson (Contact)
Saturday, December 27, 2008
DENVER
| Many universities have come under pressure to reject their American
Indian mascots, but in what may be a first, the University of Denver
has ditched a non-Indian mascot on the grounds he wasn't sufficiently
diverse.
A university committee gave the final axing in October to "Denver Boone," better known as Boone,
a portly, chubby-cheeked cartoon character in a coonskin cap who
represented the University of Denver Pioneers from 1968 to 1998.
"The
old Boone figure is one that does not reflect the broad diversity of
the DU community and is not an image that many of today's women,
persons of color, international students and faculty and others can
easily relate to as defining the pioneering spirit," Chancellor Robert
Coombe said.
Boone, drawn by Walt Disney in 1968, was shelved in
1998 for his "lack of gender inclusiveness and the changing image of
the university," according to the student newspaper, the Clarion.
Students
and alumni have lobbied to bring back Boone ever since. A university
survey taken earlier this year in response to a resurgent "bring back
Boone" movement showed that 87 percent of student and alumni
respondents held a favorable opinion of the pudgy pioneer and wanted to
see his return.
(My favorite part)
The
university put the mascot question last year before its History and
Traditions Task Force, which decided to shelve Boone permanently after
critics argued that he represented an era of Western imperialism and
was offensive to women and minority groups.
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" -Animal Farm, by George Orwell.