School Mascot

When I was first introduced to the Pacific mascot, Boxer, my initial reaction was ‘of course the school should change their mascot. It’s obviously so weird and creepy’. I felt as though everyone I talked to about our mascot agreed.

Everyone around me seemed to come to the conclusion that the Boxer mascot was unconventional.

It’s like Pacific is trying capture the cool, alternative vibe that Portland has, but it just comes off as more cringey than anything. But in the grand scheme of things who cares?

Boxer is a qilin, a mythical Chinese creature, statue who was picked up by a Pacific alumna while serving a missionary in China in the late 1800s, who later donated to the University.

Boxer was originally named “College Spirit” and stood in a chapel for several years before a group of students had decided to claim it as the mascot for Pacific.

In 1968, the qilin statue was named “Boxer” and replaced the school’s previous mascot of the badger.

Pacific’s mascot could be something more catchy and contemporary like a duck, a beaver or possibly a viking. Pacific could even bring back the badger as a mascot.

But at the end of the day who seriously cares that much about what our mascot looks like? I don’t think that any of our lives would be significantly different if Pacific did have a mascot that was considered normal.

If Pacific decided to change the mascot back to a badger, Pacific’s sports teams would still play the same, school spirit would still feel the same and nothing would change except the face of Pacific.

If Pacific were a Division I school, maybe this would be a more contentious issue.

But because we are a small university, nobody would probably even notice or care if Pacific University’s mascot was or wasn’t a Chinese Boxer dog.

You might love Boxer and think that he’s the best mascot in the entire world, or you might think that Boxer is the worst mascot in existence.

Whatever your stance is on the face of Pacific, I think that we can all come to the agreement that the actual mascot suit is terrifying.