I am Mexican-American. I am a first-generation college student. I come from a low-income background and I am thankful that I have scholarships to allow me to get a DU education I would have otherwise been unable to afford.
Although I am different from many of the students who attend the University of Denver in those regards, I do not focus on those differences. Instead, I take pride in attending DU and being a Denver Pioneer.

Indeed, if anything, I can credit many of my good feelings about DU to DU’s unofficial pioneer mascot. That is because I have a unique perspective on Boone:  I have spent much of the past three years (and some of this year) behind Boone’s mask.

Representing our students and alumni in such a tangible, direct way has meant the world to me. I have seen the smiles of children and parents, the pride of alumni and the gratitude of our athletes and coaches.  I have had the incredible honor of going to a special mascot camp to learn how to be my best in the costume.

I couldn’t have done any of that if it weren’t for the DU alumni who made it possible and the many people who support our mascot and want Boone at their events.

To condemn Boone now would also take away from the upward momentum we’ve built in school spirit. I have seen firsthand how our pioneer character has given DU a much-needed lift and identity that we had lacked for too long.

It is interesting that most of the problems I have heard being raised about our pioneer mascot are not actually about the mascot, but rather about Daniel Boone. Our pioneer mascot (one of only two school mascots ever designed by Disney studios) was never created to represent Daniel Boone, however. The mascot was originally simply named “Pioneer” by Disney, and the name “Denver Boone” was given to the character by the DU student body in a 1968 name contest. If the main arguments have to do with who Daniel Boone was as a person, then perhaps there are better venues and opportunities to make those arguments or to bring awareness to that issue.

We are a campus that benefits from our mascot, but above that, we are a campus that needs to find a way to continue to come together. Frankly, I don’t think issues of diversity are best dealt with by arguing about whether our mascot is or should be male or female, white or black or brown, a bird or a rodent. To blame a lack of diversity or interaction at DU on a cartoon or costumed character does not make sense to me. That is not to say that DU does not have room to improve in terms of diversity and acceptance. Of course it does, as does society as a whole.

There are plenty of other issues at DU or within our community or city or country to which we could surely devote our energy in a more constructive way. So why not focus more on those problems? Go out of your way to interact with those with whom you normally wouldn’t. Educate and recruit others to participate in drives or events that benefit your community.

In other words, do things more constructive than arguing over a cartoon character.

If we can find a new official mascot that depicts a Pioneer and represents everyone, then I support that and that might be beneficial to the school, but that will be difficult. We had a “neutral” mascot in the Ruckus (the red-tailed hawk), and we all saw that it could not gain much traction. My fear is that in our quest to find a mascot that does not offend someone’s heritage, we will end up offending even more people who simply want a mascot that connects with our nickname. Boone has been already been ‘admitted’ as an unofficial mascot for students and alumni by Chancellor Coombe’s letter in 2008, and that decision has benefited the school in this regard.

That has been the capacity Boone has acted in since then and to me, and to all who love Boone; this seems to be a very effective compromise.