Boone Debate Draws National Academic Attention

(above) This highly offensive photo accompanied the article

From: The Chronicle of Higher Education

Mascot Watch: U of Denver
Nickname: Pioneers
Mascot: Ruckus, a red tailed hawk

What’s Happening:
University officials put down a grass roots effort to revive Denver Boone, the retired cartoon character who had served as the face of campus athletics for 31 years.

The Details:
Boone’s resurgence has been spreading like a prairie fire. Fans come to athletic events dressed as the scruffy Pioneer; hockey crowds shout “We Want Boone” and campus promoters staged a concert called “Boonestock.”

A recent survey found 87% of respondents either liked or loved Boone, who hung up his coonskin cap in 1999.

But some critics said he was a symbol of Western expansionism. So retirement is where he’ll stay, Chancellor Robert Coombe wrote in a memo last month.

“The old Boone figure is one that does not reflect the broad diversity of the DU community,” he said. The Chancellor urged people to discuss “what it means to be a Pioneer, for today and the future.”

(left) Meanwhile back in Daniel Boone Country - i.e. Kentucky, the rebuttal to the above article was swift and sharp

From: KYNews.org

DENVER, CO – It seems the Boone name just isn’t what it once was in some parts of the good ‘ol U.S. of A.

In the most recent issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education it was reported that the University of Denver had successfully thwarted an effort to reinstate Denver Boone as the school’s mascot. The popular cartoon character had been the school’s mascot for 31 years.

Fans apparently loved Denver Boone, even after he was sent packing by the university in 1999 in favor of Ruckus, the red-tailed hawk. It seems that Boone was booted because he was a symbol of “Western expansionism.”

DU’s Chancellor Robert Coombe is quoted in a memo, stating:

“The old Boone figure is one that does not reflect the broad diversity of the DU community.”

With that in mind, how about a mascot that captures the administration’s sentiments about pioneer Americans of European descent. May I suggest: The Denver University Thieving, Blood-Thirsty White Bastards.