Holy god almighty, run! It’s the most fearsome beast in all the animal kingdom – the owl, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! At least this was what I thought when I found out that our mascot was the big bad burly owl. Wow, I’m so scared of FAU’s new football team they are so tough that they managed to tame the savage owl.
Let’s face facts FAU is not your typical university and as such we aren’t really a school built upon tradition. So our new president wants to change the mascot, let him. If Mr. Restrepo were really as open minded and fair as he claims to be he’d leave Brogan alone. Personally, I think that a nice way to pave over their relationship would be for Mr. Brogan to purchase a new soapbox as Dan’s has become so worn out this past semester. Seeing as the young man seems so inclined to waste his talents blathering on about clandestine plots every time Brogan goes to the little president’s room.
I’ll be honest, I don’t really care all that much about the mascot. At the moment, it’s little more than a cartoon and something for our opponents to giggle at when they play us. As for the search for a “consistent identity” we have one, many people know FAU as “Find Another University,” or that commuter school in Boca. I think what Brogan is implying is that FAU needs to have a better image in the college market.
The idea that changing the mascot will aid FAU financially is a sound one. As much as Mr. Restrepo loathes the idea that Brogan considers our dear little university a business, the truth is that universities are in fact moneymaking institutions. So, as anyone who has stayed awake in a marketing class can tell you advertising helps sell your product. Our product is education, and if Brogan and his gang think that our ever so cute, ahem, I mean bloodthirsty and vicious flesh eating owl, is not sellable then I think he should change it. A mascot is a logo and a logo helps in attracting attention. Our football team has come far and with a bit of luck and hope will continue the success they’ve had in their current division. And in division 1-A, where Brogan wants to take FAU, we will be more in the public eye. Our mascot is a sellable image. Everything from sweatshirts to flame-throwers (the kids love those), will have that image on it.
As for the idea that FAU’s identity is “fudged” I feel our diversity is our image. As a school we are so diverse that you can’t spit in the breezeway with out putting a gob in the eye of a person who’s different than you. Maybe if Brogan wants to be unique he can make the mascot something that deals with diversity. Maybe a fighting office of student diversity, that’d put fear into the hearts of other teams. Hell, I put money down on a building beating the bejesus out of any other critter.
Truth is that FAU is a player in the marketplace. If the owl is not what is selling in this market, then change mascot.
