Viewpoint by Marley Malenfant/se news editor
Of all the things TCC is great for, choosing a mascot isn’t one of them.
We are now the TCC Trailblazers. Our mascot is a bull.
The mascot came from a list of 500 gathered by student development services on each campus. From there, Chancellor Erma Johnson Hadley had the final say. Even stranger is that TCC felt the mascot needed a nickname for this bull and gave students little notice when they can vote for the bull’s nickname.
Oct. 20 is the deadline for students, faculty and staff to submit a nickname at www.tccd.edu/Name TheMascot.
At the top page of the site, a note says, “Thanks to student input, Tarrant County College presents the final mascot selection: TCC Trailblazers.”
When were you planning to tell us about this mascot, TCC? And who’s to say the students even wanted a bull?
TCC’s publication coordinator Arturo Martinez said student development asked for student’s contribution.
On a list of 500 mascots, students from each campus should have had the opportunity to vote on a mascot. So much for the input, TCC.
And where will this mascot be seen? Hopefully, it won’t be some poor student in a hot costume waving to others outside each campus.
The new mascot could boost school spirit. However, most students distinguish a mascot through sports. TCC doesn’t have any organized sports teams. Instead, we have intramurals. Unlike TCU’s Superfrog or UT’s Bevo, I don’t think thousands of students would go out of their way for an autograph or a picture with the Trailblazer.
Also, in the state of Texas, the bull doesn’t seem original. According to Sports Illustrated, the Longhorn’s Bevo was ranked the fourth most popular mascot and the toughest-looking mascot. Texas has enough mascots with horns. I’m sure TCC could have found a mascot that doesn’t have a pair of horns.
Overall, the mascot was just bad timing. With enrollment growing, a state election in two weeks and buildings currently being renovated on South, NE and SE campuses, TCC has more important things to do.
The mascot is just a lot of bull.
