Peregrine power over griffin garbage

 

Our stance: Give us peregrines or give us death.

 

At the recent Honor Hunger banquet, Chancellor Thomas Keon decided to present honors graduates

with medals featuring engraved griffins. Peregrine power was nowhere to be found, replaced instead by

a mythical creature.

 

“I took a look at the current symbol and I thought that a peregrine doesn’t seem very academic,”

Keon said. “This year’s graduates will be presented with medals with a griffin on them, which

they can wear at graduation, and hopefully it’s something they will cherish for the rest of their

lives.”

 

The new griffin symbol is already slated to be released at a later date, whatever that means,

but when were students actually consulted about the future of their former feathered friend?

Attempts were already made to change the mascot a year ago, and it went absolutely nowhere

with little interest from students.

 

That, of course, was an effort made with mascots that actually made sense. Steelers and Oilers

show a sense of pride for the region of Northwest Indiana. A griffin, on the other hand, takes

years of well-established peregrine pride, and replaces it with something a Dungeon Master

could come up with.

 

It is rather mind-boggling how something that is both non-existent and irrelevant gets deemed

a suitable replacement for the peregrine, let alone how it is representative of academia. At that

point, a Hippogriff or a Pikachu must seem like academic scholars.

 

Unless students have visions of PUC becoming Hogwarts, suddenly incorporating a griffin into

the mix of things just seems silly and pointless.

 

Whether it is turning our college campus into a “hometown university” or murdering our mascot,

all of these things done in order to garner more interest in PUC tend to feel more insulting than

welcoming towards veteran students. We were happy before chucking a caseload of cash at

changing our look, aside from some essential building renovations and technological upgrades.

Otherwise, why would we be here?

 

Students have never been particularly shy of speaking up within the last few years. We

speak freely about Chartwells, overcrowded parking and allegedly racist professors when we

have complaints. Very rarely have we spoken about such superficial subjects as a peregrine

not seeming smart enough or our university not feeling like an important institution of our

hometown.

 

Trust us, by looking at the sheer chaos enveloping this entire school year, students never fail to

make their problems known. Peregrine pride is not one of them, so perhaps the griffin should hit

the garbage can so we can focus on the more important issues.