Stanford why cardinal

The group suggested that the "University would be renouncing a grotesque ignorance that it has previously condoned" by removing the Indian as Stanford's symbol, and by "retracting its misuse of the Indian symbol" Stanford would be displaying a "readily progressive concern for the American Indians of the United States. When Ombudsperson Lois Amsterdam presented the petition to President Lyman in February of , she added her own understanding of the issue.

All of us have in some way, by action or inaction, accepted and supported the use of the Indian symbol on campus. We did not do so with malice, or with intent to defile a racial group. Rather, it was a reflection of our society's retarded understanding, dulled perception and clouded vision. Sensitivity and awareness do not come easily when childish misrepresentations in games, history books and motion pictures make up a large part of our experience.

President Lyman then made the official decision to remove forever the Indian as Stanford's mascot. Over the years there have been unsuccessful campaigns to reinstate the Indian as mascot, or to replace the big-nosed caricature with a more "noble" image of an Indian in Full stop. For the last twenty years, there has been a fairly formal selection process for the student who gets to play the tree. It sounds like a giant, popular, ironic responsibility that is in quite high demand in the Stanford Community.

And, to be fair, the Tree does have greater responsibilities than your average mascot, at least in terms of creative initiative. While each is different, they do all seem to have crazed, acid-trippy features. As a result of these talks and the ensuing publicity, the Stanford Student Senate voted to drop the Indian symbol, and Lyman agreed.

The first student referendum on the issue was held in May, , and it resulted in a vote of 1, for and 1, against restoring the Indian. The second vote, on Dec. There was a move to reinstate the Indian as the school mascot in None of the suggestions were accepted. In , another group comprised of varsity athletes from 18 teams, started a petition for the mascot to be the griffin — a mythological animal with the body and hind legs of a lion and head and wings of an eagle.

The campaign for the Griffins failed. Nine years after the Indian was dropped, Stanford had still not decided on a new mascot. President Donald Kennedy declared in that all Stanford athletic teams will be represented and symbolized exclusively by the color cardinal.

It is a rich and vivid metaphor for the very pulse of life. The Mascot : There is no official mascot at Stanford University. Since Stanford University and Palo Alto are almost inextricably intertwined in interests and location, it is a natural outgrowth of this relationship.