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Despite the administration’s dislike of Denver Boone, a group of 200 alumni, students and fans have raised over $5,000 to create an unofficial Pioneer mascot who will be modeled after DU’s former mascot “Denver Boone.”
“We kept hoping that the University of Denver would reconsider its decision in the fall to mothball Boone,” Damien Goddard, class of 1988 said. “When it became obvious that no amount of letter writing, e-mails or public relations would change the decision, we changed our tactics.”
Goddard is still very active in the DU community and also the creator of LetsGoDU.blogspot.com, a blog that follows DU in the news with videos, photos and score updates.
Scott Fuson, a junior and Denver Boone advocate, will be the man in the new mascot outfit, but he hopes the new mascot will spark interest among students.
“Our mascot should reflect the values of a pioneer, and the one of the best reflections of a pioneer was Daniel Boone,” Fuson said. “I share the administration’s goal of striving for diversity and inclusiveness at DU, but I find it farfetched to try to connect these ideals with the school’s mascot.”
On Thursday, Fuson will unveil the Pioneer in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the Frozen Four and then return to Denver to make his first appearances on Saturday.
The mascot will be attending the women’s tennis match against Northern Colorado at the Stapleton Tennis Pavilion at 9 a.m. and the men’s lacrosse game against Notre Dame at Invesco Field at 1:30 p.m.
The idea of a new mascot began developing three months ago when a young alumnus proposed the idea to the active alumni group.
“I was very skeptical that we could raise the money, but we floated the idea on LetsGoDU Blog and the checks started flowing in,” Goddard said.
Not only will Fuson appear at varsity sporting events, but the Pioneer mascot will also be at May Days, club sporting events and other campus events to get the students excited.
But the Pioneer mascot hasn’t been given an official name or sanction yet.
“It could be named Boone,” Fuson said. “People funding this entire program didn’t want to be too quick to name it something that the students didn’t support. We want to leave that up to the student body.”
Another name in the mix includes Pioneer Pete, the original DU mascot.
Two weeks ago, Fuson attended the Raymond Entertainment Group’s Mascot Boot Camp in Kutztown, Pa. Run by Dave Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic. The camp taught Fuson how to create the character and brand the mascot for DU student body.
Fuson learned about nonverbal communication, interacting with the crowd and fans, improvisation, physical fitness, costume care and costume and site safety.
Although alumni have raised a large sum of donations, they are still around $2,500 shy of covering the expenses.
“We’re doing this to unite the alumni, students and supporters of the university,” Goddard said.
“If anyone thinks they can come up with a better symbol of a ‘Pioneer,’ we challenge them to design and produce a better mascot. If it’s better than ours, no one will be happier than me.”
According to Goddard, alumni have heard that the Pioneer mascot will not have a problem performing at events.
For Fuson and the alumni, the fight to bring back Boone isn’t over, it’s just beginning.
