
Kathryn Ganfield
Kathryn Ganfield is the current Editor of the Metropolitan Student Newspaper.
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“It’s something you assume your college has. And I feel slighted that we don’t,” said Jessica Maistrovich, Student Senate Treasurer, in explaining her drive to create a mascot
for Metropolitan State University. “Mascots create a sense of community and belonging. Having one can add that sense of fun that sometimes we’re missing as a more adult college,” she said.
Maistrovich’s motion to create a mascot task force was passed unanimously at the Sept. 8 Student Senate meeting.
“I welcome this, and I want you to have all the information you need,” said Metropolitan State University President Ginny Arthur at the meeting. She offered to connect the task force with the Vice President of Marketing and staff members conducting a branding study of the university.
Alysia Lajune, Coordinator for Student Life and Leadership Development, advised the new task force to review past years’ Student Senate minutes for discussions of a mascot. “It’s come up before, there have been ebbs and flows,” she said. “You’ll want to see if there’s an appetite for [a mascot] on campus.”
All university community members are welcome to participate in meetings. Maistrovich will chair the task force. “I need input from students. We will be asking for suggestions and then maybe do an all-school survey of the top five ideas,” she said.
Meetings will be held in Student Center room 201, from 5 to 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month. The first meeting is Oct. 17. The task force will continue to meet until they create a mascot — or opt not to.
Maistrovich acknowledged the breadth of opinion on campus about a mascot. “We don’t have sports teams so therefore we don’t need one? I don’t think that’s necessarily a valid argument,” she said. “I would still like a day where we wear school colors and have that feeling of community that that creates. It’s especially important at our school where we don’t always have that sense of unity.”
The task force will take into consideration the pros and cons of having a Metro State mascot, and why two major pushes for a mascot in the past “fizzled out,” said Maistrovich.
“A mascot is something you can rally behind. The same way you would rally behind a sports team. Just having it gives you that little community boost,” said Maistrovich. She hopes the task force will be successful in pulling Metro State together around a single emblem. “What a lasting accomplishment that would be, to do that for the school,” she said.