While DU Refuses To Resolve Boone Issue, School Is So Broke They Can't Afford To Hire New Faculty. Hmm...
Chancellor Robert D. Coombe has halted all current searches for new faculty and staff as a result of the current economic situation, according to an e-mail he sent to faculty and staff last Wednesday. His decision is effective immediately. "We expect to make a number of decisions and take appropriate actions within the next 90 days, so as to have an impact on the development of our operating budget for fiscal year 2010," Coombe wrote in an e-mail.
From: DU Clarion
by Caddie North
The AUSA Senate has dropped discussing whether Denver Boone, a cartoon character in a raccoon hat designed by Walt Disney, should return as DU's mascot.
Senate President Monica Kumar said the action is being taken because a meeting with Chancellor Robert Coombe on Oct. 1 failed to produce the awaited final resolution on Boone's fate.
"Students are frustrated because we're expecting a yes or no answer, but it's important that people realize that this isn't something that's ever going to be resolved with a yes or a no," Kumar said.
Kumar, along with a number of other senators, said that Boone would probably not become the official mascot again despite the fact many of DU's varsity sports teams use the name "Pioneers," which, at DU, was historically represented by the Boone cartoon character, who represents a scrappy pioneer.
Boone was officially retired in 1999 due to pressure for its lack of gender inclusiveness and the changing image of the university, according to Daniels Senator Jason Lundberg.
However, support for the mascot swelled in recent years, with many arguing for an icon that would unite the student body.
"After people graduate, they don't say, 'I'm a pioneer.' They say, 'I graduated from the University of Denver,' because there isn't that symbol of pride," Lundberg said.
In a survey taken of students and alumni by the university earlier this year, 87 percent of respondents reported liking or loving Boone and hoping to see his return, in some form, as the school's official mascot.
Fifty-three percent of the 4,408 respondents said that they saw the cartoon as an "effective" representation of DU.
More than half found nothing objectionable about the mascot.
Much of that support comes from alumni who attended DU when Boone was the official mascot and still identify with the character, Kumar said.
However, opponents of Boone's reinstatement remain firm in their position.
"This mascot is offensive despite his coy smile and overall happy demeanor. Native Americans suffered at [the hands of settlers] like Daniel Boone and now people are advocating having a cartoon that embodies a murderer represent our school.
"I don't know about you, but I would rather have a gender neutral bird as my mascot over a cartoon associated with the slow demise of the Native Americans here in our country," said Joe Borrego, a sophomore communications major.
The issue appears to have divided the Senate in recent weeks as well.
Off Campus Senator John McMahon said, "As far as I'm concerned, this is a dead issue.
"The second any student said that they felt marginalized [by Boone] is the second that all discussion [of a comeback] should have been dropped. Boone will always be a part of DU, but I don't understand the reasoning behind making it a mascot of DU at this point."
Other senators, including Vice President Antoine Perretta and Lundburg, expressed support for the mascot as an object of pride and unification for the student body.
According to Kumar, the only realistic possibility for Boone's future at DU is for it to become an unofficial school mascot, utilized only on merchandise and in contexts that are not sponsored or funded by the university.
"This is not a conversation about Boone as the school mascot anymore," Kumar said. "At this point it is a conversation about university identity and how we identify ourselves as pioneers. This discussion still gives us as students the opportunity to speak out and have our voices heard."
With a final word from the Chancellor still pending, Perretta said that he does not expect a final resolution to the Boone issue to take place anytime soon.
"Boone retired 10 years ago and we're still talking about him. As far as I can tell, in another 10 years we'll still be talking about him," he said.
The official DU mascot is still Ruckus, the red-tailed hawk. But, the icon currently being used by the DU sports teams is the Denver arch.
From: DU Clarionby Caddie North
The AUSA Senate has dropped discussing whether Denver Boone, a cartoon character in a raccoon hat designed by Walt Disney, should return as DU's mascot.
Senate President Monica Kumar said the action is being taken because a meeting with Chancellor Robert Coombe on Oct. 1 failed to produce the awaited final resolution on Boone's fate.
"Students are frustrated because we're expecting a yes or no answer, but it's important that people realize that this isn't something that's ever going to be resolved with a yes or a no," Kumar said.
Kumar, along with a number of other senators, said that Boone would probably not become the official mascot again despite the fact many of DU's varsity sports teams use the name "Pioneers," which, at DU, was historically represented by the Boone cartoon character, who represents a scrappy pioneer.
Boone was officially retired in 1999 due to pressure for its lack of gender inclusiveness and the changing image of the university, according to Daniels Senator Jason Lundberg.
However, support for the mascot swelled in recent years, with many arguing for an icon that would unite the student body.
"After people graduate, they don't say, 'I'm a pioneer.' They say, 'I graduated from the University of Denver,' because there isn't that symbol of pride," Lundberg said.
In a survey taken of students and alumni by the university earlier this year, 87 percent of respondents reported liking or loving Boone and hoping to see his return, in some form, as the school's official mascot.
Fifty-three percent of the 4,408 respondents said that they saw the cartoon as an "effective" representation of DU.
More than half found nothing objectionable about the mascot.
Much of that support comes from alumni who attended DU when Boone was the official mascot and still identify with the character, Kumar said.
However, opponents of Boone's reinstatement remain firm in their position.
"This mascot is offensive despite his coy smile and overall happy demeanor. Native Americans suffered at [the hands of settlers] like Daniel Boone and now people are advocating having a cartoon that embodies a murderer represent our school.
"I don't know about you, but I would rather have a gender neutral bird as my mascot over a cartoon associated with the slow demise of the Native Americans here in our country," said Joe Borrego, a sophomore communications major.
The issue appears to have divided the Senate in recent weeks as well.
Off Campus Senator John McMahon said, "As far as I'm concerned, this is a dead issue.
"The second any student said that they felt marginalized [by Boone] is the second that all discussion [of a comeback] should have been dropped. Boone will always be a part of DU, but I don't understand the reasoning behind making it a mascot of DU at this point."
Other senators, including Vice President Antoine Perretta and Lundburg, expressed support for the mascot as an object of pride and unification for the student body.
According to Kumar, the only realistic possibility for Boone's future at DU is for it to become an unofficial school mascot, utilized only on merchandise and in contexts that are not sponsored or funded by the university.
"This is not a conversation about Boone as the school mascot anymore," Kumar said. "At this point it is a conversation about university identity and how we identify ourselves as pioneers. This discussion still gives us as students the opportunity to speak out and have our voices heard."
With a final word from the Chancellor still pending, Perretta said that he does not expect a final resolution to the Boone issue to take place anytime soon.
"Boone retired 10 years ago and we're still talking about him. As far as I can tell, in another 10 years we'll still be talking about him," he said.
The official DU mascot is still Ruckus, the red-tailed hawk. But, the icon currently being used by the DU sports teams is the Denver arch.
13 comments:
So let me get this straight Senator McMahon, if one person objects to Boone, then that is the end of the discussion...hmmm, whatever happened to the concept of the will of the people...kind of reminds me of the current economi bailout...forget what the people want, that is irrelevant.Oh well, sounds as if the University has made up their minds...how sad.
Seems to me Boone is in a stronger position than he was two weeks ago.
The Chancellor was going to shitcan Boone, now we're hearing that "no decision was made."
Glad to hear that a couple of Senators stood up in Boone's defense, but what is up with the rest of these spineless lemmings? What a bunch of Nancyboys.
While were at it lets fire the "Anti-Boone" faculty members to save overhead.
Good to see someone is showing a little back-bone. Granting an individual or a small group of malcontents a "Hecklers Veto" is the very essence of spineless.
Nobody has the right to not be offended. Yet, I am offended by the anti-Boone contingent. They are truly the intolerant ones that seek to impose their distorted, wrongheaded views and opinions on the majority. They can pound sand.
Time to honor the tradition of the authentic trailblazers in our American history. Does anyone really believe Daniel Boone would have rolled over to this lame bunch of misfits that seek to erase yet another aspect of American iconography.
Time to man up and fight even harder.
Good luck.
RR,
Thanks for your comments.
This weekend millions watched the University of Texas play Oklahoma in football at the Cotton Bowl.
The Texas band, as always, wore cowboy hats.
The OU Sooner chuckwagon was shown during before commercial breaks.
What gives?
You know... the student section continually offends me... can we get them to stop allowing students to come to the hockey games? Of course I'm not serious about not letting them come to games, but come on!!!
It's sad to say, but North Dakota actually makes us look bad on this issue... at least they have never rolled over about their mascot.
While I'm thinking of it... wouldn't having a "Pioneer" such as Boone be offset with having an arch rival that is a "Fighting Souix"?
It's sad to see that DU is being run by these pussies!
Maybe Boulder can just annex the campus... then we would all understand!
Following the rationale of Boone detractors is almost impossible.
First, let's define Pioneer: "A pioneer is a person or entity that is one of the first to do something. A pioneer may settle previously uninhabited territory, or open up new areas of thought or research."
Isn't this a fitting or desirable attribute for an institution of higher education?
Having been established in 1864, 12 years prior to statehood and the founding of CU, DU is a Pioneer in higher education in Colorado.
Isn't it true that Colorado was settled by Pioneers?
Isn't the Pioneer Spirit a well established part of the American psyche?
Is it not then totally appropriate the University of Denver be known as the Pioneers?
Yes, it is.
Now to "Denver" Boone and whether this character is politically correct.
When was the last time a smiling, hockey stick wielding, ice skate wearing cartoon character was ever charged with the murder of Native Americans?
Wasn't the character's namesake Daniel Boone considered a hero from Tennessee to Texas in his lifetime and later as a symbol of America's Pioneer Spirit? Further, by allowing himself to be slaughtered by the Mexican Army at the Alamo, does Boone then become a favorite son of all (choose one) Hispanics, Latinos, Mexican Americans?
How many women find Boone as a symbol of exclusion or discrimination? What about USC's Tommy Trojan or the UMass Minuteman? Should they be shelved as sexist symbols of discrimination?
Walt Disney, an American icon, created this character to represent the University of Denver Pioneers. Should we not be proud to have a mascot specifically designed for DU by such a distinguished individual?
Let's be honest Ruckus the "official" mascot has never been accepted. The latest symbol designed to represent DU is almost undecipherable and has been described, at best, as a jelly donut. To be honest cow pie or road kill is probably more descriptive. Is this the symbol the University wants to portray? I think not!
Bottom line get rid of it.
"Denver" Boone lives in the hearts of both students and alumni. Boone represents Pioneer spirit. Isn't that what it is all about?
Viz,
You're all worked up. :-)
I think you're talking about Davy Crockett who died at the Alamo.
Daniel Boone spent a lot of his life in battles with Native Americans. Check it out on Wiki, he led a pretty interesting life.
I still believe we're going see the Boone logo at DU, but this ain't gonna be easy.
Vizoroo:
Love your enthusiasm and passion for Boone, but we gotta be factual here or people won't take our side seriously.
1) Daniel Boone was never at the Alamo - that was Davy Crockett. Common mistake made by many. So the whole hispanic thing won't hunt.
2) Walt Disney did not create Boone himself. One of the many artists at Disney's Studio did it in as a favor to then ski coach Willy Scheffler.
3) USC uses Trojan, and in some cases, Women of Troy, to denote female athletes, while UMass uses Minutewomen, rather than Minutemen. The male mascots stay put. As for women who didn't like Boone, the only one that really counted was DU's ex AD Dianne Murphy, now at Columbia.
For Boone to have a chance at restoration, in my opinion, the majority (us) need to look far more objective - we should not denigrate the legitimacy of the opposition here, as Native Americans may see Western Pioneers as oppressive, and there is a very factual case that supports thier views.
Our best chance is to recognize how Boone and other western Pioneers might be offensive to some, then go out create some real finanicial support for Native Americans at DU and keep pressing for Boone based on the fact the the overwhelming majority of people connected with DU believe in the American Pioneer spirit, which is just also perfectly legitimate a history as the Native American history is.
As someone smarter than me put it, History is always written by the winners, and there is always loads precedent for this.
How did those Native Americans obtain their lands before the Pioneers got there? Well, they acquired them by driving off, killing, or assimilating other tribes who had the land before them, as they had in turn done to those who preceded them. What Pioneers did to Native Americans is what mankind has been doing to each other throughout history -- no more, no less.
A century or more later, it is easy for some to criticize the frontier settlers. They were doing exactly what everyone else in human history does -survive and conquer. Perhaps we should ask ourselves: if you and I were in living in constant peril as they were, how altruistic would we be?
Swami should be a teacher. Well said.
The point is that we don't need to get into a debate with these jokers.
Most of us are either alumni who have or will donate our money & time to DU, students who pay 40 grand a year or hockey fans who shell out over a grand a year for tickets, parking, food and merchandise.
No matter which category you fall into, DU just can't just dump the Boone Movement. At the end of the day there's accountability and we all answer to someone, even the Chancellor.
Make noise at the games, shout "Bring Back Boone" and the "right" people will hear you. The cat's out of the bag and people are talking.
Mea culpa!
Later this evening I realized That Davy Crockett was slain at the Alamo, not Daniel Boone. Fess Parker played both characters and both wore coonskin caps. Obviously confusion resulted. However I am a 5th generation Texan and should know Better. Mea culpa. Mea Culpa.
I have never heard of the UMass Minutewomen, but I do recognize Women of Troy. Tommy Trojan is still TOMMY Trojan.
And as it so happens Pioneers is not gender specific.
Enough of this crap. Time to reinvent Boone: My Boone
Post a Comment