The University of San Francisco is considering replacing its longtime mascot, the Don, over student concerns that the mustachioed swashbuckler is too closely associated with the exploitation of California’s indigenous people by Spanish colonizers, according to news reports.
University officials confirmed to the San Francisco Chronicle this week that they will consider replacing the mascot that has represented the school for more than 90 years after a student-led petition to axe the mascot garnered 417 signatures.
The university explains on its website that the name comes from the acronym for “De Origen Noble” in Spanish, a title given only to a noble person of political, social, or official distinction.
“The name references the early history of California and San Francisco, which was marked by the exploits of the adventuresome and swashbuckling Spanish Dons,” the school explains. “All USF students and alumni are of noble origin who share in the long passion for learning in order to better understand the past, clarify the present and anticipate the future. Thus, we are proud to call ourselves the Dons.”
USF’s mascot, a masked man with a Spanish-style green hat, green gloves, and a cape, is named in honor of Don Francisco de Haro, the first mayor of San Francisco.
University spokeswoman Kellie Samson offered few details about what the process of replacing the mascot might entail but told the paper it will “will engage all university stakeholders — both on campus and in the alumni community — in this important conversation about the mascot.”
Members of the school community voiced concerns about the mascot in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd, which led to widespread protests and conversations about race in America. Concerns about the mascot flared up again in the wake of a 2021 investigation into the university’s alleged mishandling of sexual misconduct incidents and reports over a decade, according to the paper.
Design professor Rachel Beth Egenhoefer spoke out against the mascot in a letter to the student newspaper in 2021.
“I can’t help but see the connection between a masked male mascot — known for controlling women, organized crime, Spanish colonization, unapologetically lassoing and sword fighting, and riding off on his high horse — and the culture that has allowed the many accounts of chauvinistic behavior, sexual harassment and assault to occur at USF,” Egenhoefer wrote.
Last November the student body president and vice president introduced a resolution in the student senate that urged the university to form a task force to consider a replacement mascot. The resolution, which the student government approved in December, called for the existing mascot to be “null and void by the 2024-25 academic year.”
The resolution argued that the mascot is associated with real-world people, including Don Gaspar de Portolá, the Bay Area’s first conquistador, who contradict the university’s mission statement that calls for creating a “more humane and just world” and caring for the “native lands on which our campuses reside.”
If USF replaces its mascot, it would join several other universities and professional sports teams that have done so in recent years.
George Washington University announced in May that it would change its nickname from the “Colonials” to the “Revolutionaries,” over concerns about the glorification of colonialism.
Last year the National Football League’s Washington Redskins became the Washington Commanders, while Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians became the Guardians in 2021.