In an email sent to students, faculty and staff this morning the Mascot Steering Committee announced they have decided against moving forward with the mascot choices as presented in a survey sent out in late June.

“While the Mountain Explorer and Elk performed the best, neither gained a consensus among the community. As a result, the 75-member Mascot Steering Committee recommends that none of the characters should move forward as they are currently designed,” the email said.

It was not clear whether the committee will work to design a new set of mascots or alter the designs of the current three images. Committee co-chairs Will Guy and Sam Estenson were not immediately available for comment.

“The research shows that nearly 70 percent of the University community is either receptive or neutral to moving forward with a new Denver Pioneer mascot, but at this time the community as a whole is not aligned on what that character should be,” the email explained.

According to the notice, half of the 8.000 respondents simply a mascot which is “a good fit” while 35 percent desire “Western dimensions,” with the remaining 15 percent against the inclusion of such characteristics.

“We will still have a working committee dedicated to reviewing the research data and how to best utilize the results in the future,” Guy was quoted as saying in the notice.

The images presented in a survey sent to students, staff and alumni in late June included an elk, a mountaineer and a jackrabbit.

The committee plans to “continue dialogue for further mascot development” in the fall, as well as open discussions with incoming freshman students and revamp the university spirit program. It was originally planned that a final option for a new mascot would be presented to the Board of Directors this month and would be introduced to students in fall quarter.