"The moose is very outdoorsy, like Dartmouth," Thomas Santamaria '10 said. "I think it relates to our school very well."
The Facebook group "Students for the Dartmoose" reached 1,000 members in December 2006, boasting in its profile that it was Dartmouth's largest group.
Dartmouth's Programming Board recently hosted a Valentine's Day event where students could stuff their own Dartmoose.
"Given the student interest that has been expressed in possibly having the Dartmoose as our mascot [Programming Board] figured that it would be a neat thing to offer to students," Programming Board member Cory Cunningham '10 said. (Cunningham is a member of The Dartmouth staff.)
Student Assembly is in the process of purchasing a Dartmoose costume to promote the character as the new campus mascot.
"We've had sketches drawn out by the mascot company and presented them to alumni who support the moose," Student Assembly President Tim Andreadis '07 said.
Andreadis explained that while many alumni support the Dartmoose, others remain partial towards the historical Indian mascot. He attributes the College's neutrality on the mascot issue to fears of potential alumni tensions. In order to become the College's official mascot, the Dartmoose will be subject to administrative approval.
"No matter what mascot we have, people are always going to bring up the Indian," Andreadis said. "But Student Assembly wants to alleviate some of the tension off the Indian mascot with the Dartmoose."
Many students agree that a new mascot will help downplay the image of the Dartmouth Indian.
"The only way to move past the Dartmouth Indian is to have another mascot we all can embrace," Native Americans at Dartmouth member Nick Yazzie '10 said.
Others are indifferent.
"I really don't care," Elizabeth Terry '07 said. "If [the Dartmoose] eliminates controversy, that's great, but I'm not a big yea or nay on the Dartmoose."
Other students prefer to identify with Keggy, a creation of the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern magazine, as their mascot.
"I could see a kegged-out moose becoming Keggy's reliable wingman, but by no means the official mascot of Dartmouth," said Tyler Luthringer '10.
President of the Jack-O-Lantern Alexander Rogers '08 explained that the publication supports both Keggy and the Dartmoose.
"I think it's always good to have some uniting costumed figure out there that fans can cheer for, whether that mascot be filled with good beer or potentially good meat," he said.
