Liberal Loon Barks and Throws Shade At College Tree Mascot
It’s hard to imagine that a mascot could get any more bland than a tree. When I was younger, I couldn’t understand why Stanford, whose mascot is the Cardinal, would trot out this tree at their games. I know now that The “Tree,” which is a member of the Stanford Band, is representative of El Palo Alto and the Redwood tree which is the logo of the city of Palo Alto. Since Stanford University and Palo Alto are almost inextricably intertwined in interests and location, it is a natural extension of that relationship.
On June 1st, the New College of Florida Board of Trustees voted for a new college mascot and “The Mighty Banyans” were born. So what is a Banyan you may ask? Well, a Banyan is a very unique tree. It’s a large fig tree (Ficus benghalensis) which is native to India and Pakistan that starts as an epiphyte and has spreading branches which send out aerial roots that grow down to the ground and form secondary trunks around the host tree. The Banyan kills the host tree by preventing its trunk from growing. After the host dies, the Banyan continues to grow. Eventually, one tree appears to be an entire forest.
The trees are actually very interesting to look at, and in my opinion, the “Mighty Banyans” is actually a cool nickname. Especially since the previous mascot was a “null set.” You heard correctly, the college nickname and mascot was this: { }
The Banyan represents growth, strength, and self-awareness through reflection, meditation, and a quieting of one’s mind. In fact, it is said that Buddha found enlightenment after sitting under a Banyan tree for seven days.
However, all of that isn’t good enough for one woke liberal named Robin Williams. Williams, who shockingly is a board member on the Sarasota-Charlotte Democratic Progressive Caucus, wrote an op-ed for the Sarasota Herald Tribune voicing her thoughts on the cartoon version of the new mascot.
To Williams the cartoon version reminds her of a bitter non-white person. Now, if your life is so empty, like say, …. a null set, that a cartoon tree triggers you, perhaps you should seek help. In her piece for the Sarasota Herald, Williams had this to say:
“For an educator this is a teachable moment albeit a disturbing one. At its June 1st meeting, the majority on the Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed New College of Florida Board of Trustees rammed through the approval of a new college mascot, “The Mighty Banyans” to replace the longtime “Null Set.” This was done over the objections of student Board Trustee Grace Keenana, who said changing the official mascot “Null Set” deserved more input from New College students, and that a final decision should be delayed until the fall.”
“To anyone with even a cursory knowledge of racial stereotypes, the new mascot should have set off alarms. It turns out the original student version of the mascot was very different in appearance and was unlikely to have raised any concerns. Yet Interim president Richard Corcoran and the New College Board of Trustees, which included culture warrior Christopher Rufo among its members, supported and chose an altered mascot that depicts a tree that has been anthropomorphized to closely resemble an angry, threatening brown individual.”
Since Chrstopher Rufo was mentioned in the text, he fired back at Williams texting:
“Local affluent white female liberal claims that the New College mascot, a banyan tree, “closely resembles an angry, threatening brown individual.”
“Advice for white libs: if you see a tree and immediately think ‘looks like a scary minority to me,’ you might be the racist.”
Banyan trees are beautiful, unique, and some massive ones can be found on the college’s campus. The new mascot coincides with Interim President Richard Corcoran’s attempt to make the school a destination for athletically minded students. At a meeting last week he stated that aggressive recruiting of athletes to New College would almost assuredly result in record enrollment come this fall.
Earlier this year, New College hired an athletic director and announced its plan to start an intercollegiate sports program which would include a baseball team. Shortly after that announcement school officials released a statement that “New College is looking for a new mascot” to replace the “Null Set” and released a survey with suggested alternatives. The survey was removed when liberals complained that they did not approve of some options that included Conquistadors and Rebels. In May, the school announced it was planning to roll out five more teams, which would include softball, men’s and women’s basketball, and men’s and women’s soccer.
Naturally this didn’t sit well with some. Now students, alumni and parents have started a petition requesting that the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the organization that oversees small college athletics, to reject the school’s application for membership.
Mike Sanderson is the alumnus who started the petition. “We’re not against athletics, but like everything else the administration is doing, they’re bulldozing changes with no transparency and little planning and thought.”
Trustee Grace Keenan, the student representative on the board agreed. “This could have been a really fantastic opportunity for the trustees, for our interim president, to build relationships with the students, and that just did not happen.”
So much for being progressive. I can see why Williams and the others want to cling to the “null set” as a mascot. It symbolizes something that’s empty, without values, very much like their heads.
