Students want vote on mascot
Modesto Bee 4/16/07
Students have no beef with Boomer the Golden Bobcat, but many want to have a say in what mascot represents them and their campus.
Those leading the effort are surveying students to see if they support a change. About 50 students have responded, 90 percent of whom want to vote on a mascot, according to history junior Justin Duckham. Of the 90 percent, three-fourths want to change the Bobcat.
Duckham and company want to survey at least 100 students, a representative sample of UC Merced's 1,300 students, he said.
The next step is placing a referendum on UC Merced's ballot asking students whether the mascot should be replaced. If students vote yes, they'd be asked to pick a new mascot.
Some suggestions have been the Fighting Fury Shrimp or the Burly Bovine. Duckham favors the shrimp.
"It's about having a boring bobcat over a unique shrimp," he said. "We've been trying to fight the bobcat since Day 1."
Campus elections are in a few weeks, but Duckham doesn't want to hurry the mascot referendum, so it should be on next spring's ballot, he said. If students voted to stick with the Bobcat, Duckham said he'd support it.
The UC system sets up guidelines for picking a mascot. The story goes that then-chancellor Carol Tomlinson-Keasey misread the policy, Duckham said. When it said students should have input, Tomlinson-Keasey thought that meant students from the community. A mascot-naming contest was held, and grade-schooler Lisa Lopez won with the bobcat.
"We were robbed of our opportunity (to decide)," Duckham said. "Every other UC had a chance to choose their mascot. We're trying to establish ourself as a student-oriented campus."
The Fury Shrimp is the university's unofficial mascot, Duckham said. Some students were pushing for a Fairy Shrimp mascot to pay homage to the species, but opponents argued it was too "wussy," Duckham said.
Shrimps and cows are rare college mascots. UC Merced's bobcat is not, students contend.
Matt Lyons acknowledges that some students don't care about the mascot or don't want to end up with one as outrageous as UC Santa Cruz's Banana Slug.
"It's not as large a concern as finals or the lack of majors on campus," said Lyons, a sophomore.
Although the renaming effort continues, others are building up UC Merced's reputation as land of the bobcat. This year's give from the senior class is a statue of the mascot, said Jane Lawrence, vice chancellor of student affairs.
"I think the students have identified with the bobcat as a mascot," she said. The gift "says more than a few students talking about" changing the mascot, she added.
There is a process to go by if students show interest in re-evaluating the mascot, Lawrence said, but students have not approached her.
Administrators are concerned about the cost of changing the mascot — replacing merchandise, letterhead, athletic uniforms and equipment. Duckham argues the school would make up for it by selling more merchandise with a more interesting mascot.
"The issue is more important than money. It's about student rights, the university's future, setting ourselves apart from other universities," Duckham said.