Colorado Mesa University (CMU) came under fire recently after a parent on Twitter accused the campus of “speciesism.”
In the center of the conflict is CMU’s mascot, Rowdy. Rowdy has been the mascot of CMU for decades now, taking on the face of the student body.
However, as the parent noted, CMU’s student body is called “Mavericks”, traditionally shortened to “Mavs.”
Why does this matter? Well, a Maverick is a type of horse and Rowdy is a bull.
According to the parent, CMU is the latest in a long line of schools to commit “Bull-washing”, which is when a marketing team replaces a mascot with a generic bull mascot because it looks cooler.
When asked for comment, CMU President Tim Foster said, “It’s a mascot! Who cares?”
It seems many people care, as a mob of students recently tried to knock down the bull statue outside of Lowell-Heiney hall. However, the mob quickly gave up when they realized it’s not easy to break a metal statue with college budget pitchforks.
