"Here we go Yeti, here we go!!!" Now that's exciting. Or how about, "Let's go Big Green Woodsmen!!!" Or, "Come on Moose!!!" I don't think so.
The Student Assembly of Dartmouth College feels that there is a need for a new mascot. Assembly President Jon Heavey '97 said he feels that a mascot will bring the students together. Many other students feel that the school lacks an identity and that the addition of a mascot will strengthen the weak state of our school spirit.
I disagree. It has been pointed out to me that there is a difference between school spirit and school pride. Dartmouth certainly does lack school spirit, which can be seen in the absence of enthusiasm that the students have for their athletic teams. However, what Dartmouth lacks in spirit is wholly made up for in its pride.
Dartmouth students love their school, more so than any other school in the Ivy League. Other schools don't have alumni from 30 and 40 years back, travelling hundreds of miles just to see a football game, but Dartmouth does. The intensity and, at times, overbearing nature of our academics make it hard to express our pride and enthusiasm for our school during our undergraduate career.
However, once we have left the College on the Hill, Dartmouth will remain as an integral and important part of our lives. Many of us will come back to watch a Homecoming game. The school spirit that current alumni show and that we will eventually show can be seen as a product of the pride that we have for our school.
So I come back to the question, what's wrong with the Big Green? When I first came to Dartmouth, my friends at other schools would make fun of our school, saying, "What's a Big Green?" I'm sure most of us have heard that before.
Dartmouth, by its very nature, is different from other schools. The quarter system, the importance of the Greek system, and many other aspects to the school set it apart from the rest of the Ivy League. Dartmouth instills in its students the ideals of being different.
For many of us, being called the Big Green is just as important as the others. I know students whose intrigue with the name Big Green from junior high school has brought them here.
Dartmouth is the Big Green. Dartmouth is different; if you can't find pride in that, what can you find pride in?
Assembly President Jon Heavey '97 says, "it would be more fun to have a tangible item...running around the stands at athletic events." I don't want to discredit the hard work that Heavey and his associates have done, but that idea is foolish.
It would be great to see Bullwinkle running around Memorial Field, but that surely will not bring more people to watch the games.
When people cheer for Dartmouth, more often than not, they won't be yelling, "Let's go Big Green." If we change the mascot, they won't be yelling for the yeti either. They yell, "Let's go Dartmouth!" cause that's what we are.
Dartmouth has the best athletics program in the Ivy League, and it ranks up there with the best in the nation. Considering the funding that the program receives, it arguably has the most efficient and well run program as well.
Go Dartmouth.
