There are likely no students or faculty who haven’t heard of the conflict over the mascot change. There’s been much debate and little action to put this issue to bed.
To resolve the tension, the office of Student and Community Engagement (SCE) and Student Government have collaborated to create a competition to replace Cappy, called “The Capital Colosseum Combat.”
This summer, prospective mascots will come to campus and battle it out with Cappy, gladiator-style. The “CCC” will be held in the Cap Center, which will be modified to look similar to the Colosseum—the original setting of gladiator fights.
It was discussed whether Bernlohr Stadium should be used, but Student Government President John Spitzer settled the debate.
“I think that the Cap Center is ideal, the crowd would be able to circle around the mascots,” Spitzer said. “Also, if the opponents aren’t giving us enough action, we can use the drop-down dividers to close them in, make it close quarters.”
Bleachers will line the track, closing in the makeshift stadium. There will be a stand at the head of the oval where the emperor would sit, the ultimate judge. To fill this space, the SCE and Student Government have discussed who should be on the panel of judges.
The first choices were obvious, Provost Jody Funion and President Paula Bethany, the two administrators with the most clout. After those two, the discussion became much less certain. The two organizations finally agreed that the third judge should be someone from the athletic department, so Director of Athletics, Robert Angels, was chosen.
“I was honored to be chosen,” Angels said. “I’m excited to see the displays of athleticism by these mascots. Maybe it will even excite and inspire our student athletes.”
The structure of the event will follow the gladiator fights of Ancient Greece: Cappy, the original opponent, will battle prospective mascots, the winner moving on to the next round.
“While we recognize the problem of the Crusader image and we’re trying to change the mascot, this structure does allow a possibility of Cappy staying,” Spitzer said. “A new mascot can win, but if Cappy is the strongest, then Cappy gets to stay.”
Though this movement was started in Student Government, the new, president-appointed Mascot Study Group was consulted.
“We were all pretty stumped about what to do in our study group, this proposal definitely came at the right time,” said Co-Chair Dr. Sandra Caesar. “This is a cost-effective and blame-free way to find a new mascot. Whoever wins is the new mascot, we don’t even have to choose.”
To cover the cost of a possible mascot change, Capital will be charging admission to the event, $10 per person, seniors citizens are $5, and current students are free with a Cap ID.
Capital has not settled on a specific date but are open to having multiple days if a large number of mascots show up.
“We’re expecting a lot of collaboration, we’ve already invited Cardy the Cardinal from Otterbein, MUcaw from Mount Union, Brutus the Buckeye from OSU, and Klondike from Ohio Northern University,” Spitzer said.
The Mascot Study Group, SCE, and Student Government will compile a list of competitors, decide on a date, and release further details by April 30, 2019.
