Suggested Mascot What makes this a good mascot for Amherst? (1,000 character limit) This is 1821, the year of the founding of Amherst, in binary format. The mascot can still be "1821", but would be represented in the more erudite Amherst‐style of binary 11100011101 math. Short answer: Amherst graduates give light to the world. (And why is educaon defined by "degrees"?!) Fire is gender neutral ‐ can't offend anyone with a quesonable history or polically concerning narrave. Fire is one of the most powerful, feared and respected forces in the world. Handling of fire requires wisdom and knowledge. Fire gives both heat and light, fire cleanses and The Amherst Flame ‐ as in shapes and restores and creates and destroys. (Isn't fire such a singularly skillful beauty ‐ like an Amherst grad?!) "fire". Classical Greek Philosphers' believed fire to be one of the four elements by which all things in the Universe ‐ including humans ‐ were made : Earth, Water, Fire Air. Fire is essenal to the formaon of and strengthening of many materials (forging and tempering ‐ metaphors for an Amherst educaonal experience). Fire can be cultivated through a variety of chemical reactions and materials ‐ just as through the process of combining proper measures of educational conditions with raw intellectual abilities can result in the flame that produces the illuminated thinking of an Amherst educated mind. "(the) purple and white" Embodies all the criteria; is inoffensive; already used by NSN this past Fall on football telecasts The queson mark in your placeholder mascot is a perfectly acceptable mascot for a Liberal Arts College. "?" Ideal, really. (I suspect that I'm not the first to suggest this) A is the first letter of our alphabet, the best grade one can get, and the first letter of our college's name. Befitting our college, A is more cerebral that other possible mascot "A" It has none of the negative connotations of most other mascots. And A is already a big part of Amherst iconography. Amherst is an A college! First, Ace and A signify excellence. Second, "A"s is a venerable baseball name (originally "A"s "Athletics," but changed to the simpler form years ago). Third, every AC team already has a big A on its jerseys and other paraphenalia; sometimes simpler is better. There are a few words in our language that, having been used as a mascot name for a college for a long time, can stand to identify athletes or students of certain schools. Two examples of these words are the Georgetown University "Hoyas†and the Ohio State University "Buckeyes.†Each of these name s has a roughly 100‐year associaon with its school. "Hoya†started out as part of a greek and lan cheer for the Georgeto wn University sports teams. "Buckeyes†are trees or shrubs, bu t the word had also been used to refer to any resident of Ohio before it was later used to refer to athletes on Ohio State's sports teams. Today, for many, those names refer directly to athletes and students of those schools. What's a Hoya? That's a Georgetown University student. A Buckeye? That's a person enrolled at Ohio State. There is a word like those words that the students, faculty, administrators, trustees, and alumni of Amherst could develop into that same type of eponymous mascot name for Amherst athletes and Amherst students. That name is "Darps.†Darp or "the Darp†was the nickname for Jim Ostendarp, who ca me to Amherst in 1959. Jim and Shirley Ostendarp raised their family (four daughters, three sons) at a house next to Pratt Field. For most of the second half of the last century, Darp was a colleague, a teacher, an Amherst parent, and the football coach at Amherst College. Looking back on his long tenure, two moments in parcular stand out in thinking about Amherst and the Darp. First, given the Darp's reputation and relationships throughout the college and pro football world, there were thoughts that Darp would move on from Amherst after "Darps" "The Amherst achieving coaching success there. There were eleven seasons that the team coached by the Darp won seven or eight of the games on their schedule. After one such season, Darps" reporter asked him if he planned to coach at a bigger college, and Darp responded "Where would you go after Amherst?†Second, in the 1980s, when the then new 24‐hour sports network ESPN first sought to televise the Amherst‐Williams game, Darp was the person who said "no,†thinking that the telecast couldn't and wouldn't show Amherst in its best light, as a leading liberal arts college. I did not play on the Amherst football teams, but got to know Coach Ostendarp while I was a student and after graduating. He explained to me his reasoning relating to the original ESPN request. He seemed to have been prescient, ahead of his time in sensing how giving ESPN access to Amherst's games might work for ESPN and its needs, but d not fit with Amherst's mission. "Prescience†is not the first aribute most would ascribe to the Darp…alwa ys older than the players he coached, and typically dressed mor formally than rivals he coached against, there seemed to be something "old school†about the Darp before "old school†was a thing. That's a sing ular combinaon, to be both old school and prescient. These kinds of memories are only jumping off points for the associations today's and tomorrow's Amherst students might make in considering what it would mean to be "a Darp.†What could these students learn from the Darp's colleagues, fr om professors who knew him, from his children—those who aended Amherst and played sports there, and those who did not? Today's Amherst students have demanded change and are now working to affect change. What might they make of a teacher coaching twent year olds during the 1960s a time when others of the same age were off fighting and dying in Viet Nam; or of someone teaching during the 1970s when coeducation began To‐the‐Commiee: I am writing to propose Great Gray Owl as the new mascot of the fairest college. Owls are universal symbols of wisdom. They are also powerful, formidable and, when needed, fierce. The Great Gray is the largest owl (based on length) of the more than 250 owl species on Earth. In the words of David Allen Sibley, author of the definitive fiel guide to North American birds, it is notable for its "imposing presence.†The Great Gray Owl is up to 2.5 feet in length and has a wingspan of up to 5 feet. On average, females are larger than males. Courtship involves feeding and mutual preening between males and females. The male approaches the female holding food in its beak, and bite‐sized chunks are passed to her with both birds closing their eyes. (that soun pretty civilized, mutually respectful). The male selects potential nest sites and attracts its mate to prospective locations with calls. Several sites are inspected before she makes the final choice. Both sexes aggressively defend the nest if it is threatened by predators or other dangers. Males and females share the raising of young, females providing incubaon and males providing food. Distribution of the species spans three continents—North America, Asia and Europe. New England is at the extreme eastern limit of its range. Sightings in Massachusetts ar rare (approximately a dozen sightings in the past 40 years according to Massachusetts Audubon naturalist Marge Rines) and much sought after by birders. The Great Gray's "Great Gray Owl" call is a deep, measured whooo‐ooo‐ooo‐ooo that can be heard at distances up to 800 meters. So the Great Gray Owl is a mighty cool bird, but how does it relate to the criteria set forth by the Commiee? •UNIFYING: A mascot that conjures up words like "wise,†"formidable,†"great†and "gray,†(a special nod to alumni) is likely to resonate across a wide range of Amherst communies. •POSITIVE QUALITIES: "Wise†fits here as do "presence†and "rarity,†as in Rara Avis (a u nique, special individual). •BROADLY RELEVANT: With a range spread across three connents, the Great Gray is an internaonal creature, a global presence in keeping with the diversity of Amherst. •AMHERST EXPERIENCE: Seeing a Great Gray Owl is an extraordinar y and exhilarang experience, an epiphany. Not to overreach, "extraordinary,†"exhilarang†and "epiphany†are words that fit the Amherst experience as well. •GENDER EQUAL: Well almost equal but with an edge to the females They are larger and make the final decision on nest selecon Courtship is mutually respecul the ‐Should be easy to rally around. Lovable and cute. With a proper development of the costume and the image could rival any mascot in sports, (certainly better than a purpl "Ham", the College's cow). Hamster mascot ‐Already has the color white. The tan color could be changed to purple to "I like the old one and don't believe it should have been changed!" All experienced the Pioneer Valley area (Hadley environs), and pioneer also implies pioneering/reaching out into new areas (a la Dickinson, Webster, Frost, Wilber, Varmus, "Pioneers" Stieglitz, etc.). The name could be embodied into Western Mass. pioneer dress as well (native or immigrant). "road less taken" Connection to Robert Frost and New England's eclectic mascots There is something personable about Scot. Scot can be a man or a women.