New Mascot To Be Unveiled In Washington D.C.

(above) President Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860 and re-elected in 1864 the year that John Evans founded the University of Denver

(left) The deposit has been paid and we've negotiated for the mascot to be delivered to Washington D.C. for the NCAA hockey championship Frozen Four on April 9-11

LetsGoDU and our alumni donors will introduce our new mascot in a ceremony at 10 am on Friday, April 10th at the Lincoln Memorial. Many DU alums will be in D.C. for the Frozen Four hockey national championships and if our hockey team cooperates, the turnout may be larger than expected.

Colorado applied for statehood in 1865 or 1867, but "thanks" to President Andrew Johnson, it didn't. Eleven years later, on July 1, 1876, Colorado voted 15,443 to 4,062 to adopt a state constitution proposed by a constitutional convention and to become a state. On August 1, 1876, President Ulysses Grant proclaimed Colorado the 38th state.

In 1864, Territorial Governor and University of Denver founder John Evans persuaded Congress to adopt an enabling act for Colorado statehood. It would have likely meant two more Republican U.S. Senators and three more electoral votes for President Lincoln's re-election. However, a majority of the 6,192 Coloradoans who voted, (out of a population of roughly 35,000), voted against statehood.

President Lincoln won re-election without Colorado's help. His Vice President, Democrat Andrew Johnson, supported the Union. When Lincoln was assassinated, Johnson became president on April 15, 1865. Then began the fight between Democrat Johnson and the Republican Congress, which delayed Colorado's statehood.

DU was founded in 1864 the year that Lincoln was re-elected for his 2nd term as president.