To the Editor:
Contrary to rumors and accusations, including those stemming from Mike Reeves' Oct. 13 column "The Dartmouth Moose? Really?" Student Assembly is not trying to force a mascot on the students. Rather, SA has no particular bias towards the Moose.
The mascot search began nearly three terms ago under a simple enough premise; "Wouldn't it be nice if Dartmouth had a unifying symbol?" Last Spring, SA sent out a blitz to gauge student interest in a new mascot. The initial blitz asked for student opinion on whether the naming of an "official" Dartmouth mascot would be beneficial to our institution. The overwhelming majority of responses indicated that our student body was in favor of the idea. Students were also asked to come up with mascot suggestions, and the result was a twenty-page list of possible mascot options.
The next step took place during summer term, and students from the '03, '04, and '05 classes helped narrow the plethora of options to the list of five mascots that appeared on the recent survey. In this vote, 35.4 percent of the 2,300 responses voiced support for the moose. That said, 24.9 percent of students told us that they were unhappy with the mascot options. It is clear that 35.4 percent does not constitute a mandate, and SA does not intend to move further with this project without support from our constituents. Student Assembly will be sending out a final poll, and we ask that you all respond. The question has become, "Would you accept the moose as Dartmouth's mascot?"
Although this last survey is important, the mascot project is far from over, and that brings us to another inaccuracy in Reeves' editorial. He mentioned that by going ahead with the Mascot Search, SA "denied the right to help choose the mascot to thousands of alumni and fans who cheer for and identify with Dartmouth." The Assembly fully recognized from the beginning that the 4,000 or so current Dartmouth students mean little when considering the bigger picture of the affect of an official mascot -- a symbol which will represent Dartmouth's past, present and future. SA met with both Alumni Council and Administrators as early as last spring to discuss the search, and pending continued student support for the project, we plan to launch an extensive campaign to gauge community and alumni support for a unifying symbol.
Along with Alumni, Trustees and other Dartmouth affiliates, you all have a voice in SA's search and can decide for yourself if the Moose is appropriate. Regardless of the outcome, we will forever be the "Big Green," but now, please participate in our project by helping us decide whether we want the moose to be an official part of Dartmouth's heritage.