2008 Woodie Awards
Digging through Pacific's Past
Kelly McGee
Issue date: 5/9/08 Section: Opinion
Digging through old issues of The Pacific Index you'd be surprised what you'll find. The results of the vote to change the mascot from the Badger to the Boxer were announced and showed Boxer winning by one vote with 220 votes in the May 6, 1963 issue of the Index. A re-vote was required to take place, and a week later on May 13, the Index reported that the Badger came out as the favorable mascot with 223 votes to 219.
It was not until 1968 that the Badger was finally, and literally, laid to rest, when Benny Badger was "entombed in the Old College Hall Museum," with his companion Betty Badger, as reported in the April 1, 1968 issue of the Index. The ceremony for Badger was held at the University Rose Garden, and eulogies were read by several athletes and coaches, who wondered if Badger's heart was failing as some of Pacific's sports teams were not doing as well as in previous years.
After the eulogy, Badger tried unsuccessfully to climb out of his coffin, and after being put back in, ASPU President Jerry Jolley also put in several items he thought would help Benny in the afterlife. These included a PU student handbook, a copy of "Playboy" magazine, a bottle of booze, a bedpan, a copy of the Index, a photograph, and a bottle of what was thought to be birth-control pills.
Near the end of this presentation the Gammas flew over the Rose Garden in a helicopter carrying the new mascot: Boxer. "The crowd then returned to Old College Hall to hear the remainder of the ceremony and pay a last bit of respect to Benny Badger, an old tradition which has given way to a new one."
It was not until 1968 that the Badger was finally, and literally, laid to rest, when Benny Badger was "entombed in the Old College Hall Museum," with his companion Betty Badger, as reported in the April 1, 1968 issue of the Index. The ceremony for Badger was held at the University Rose Garden, and eulogies were read by several athletes and coaches, who wondered if Badger's heart was failing as some of Pacific's sports teams were not doing as well as in previous years.
After the eulogy, Badger tried unsuccessfully to climb out of his coffin, and after being put back in, ASPU President Jerry Jolley also put in several items he thought would help Benny in the afterlife. These included a PU student handbook, a copy of "Playboy" magazine, a bottle of booze, a bedpan, a copy of the Index, a photograph, and a bottle of what was thought to be birth-control pills.
Near the end of this presentation the Gammas flew over the Rose Garden in a helicopter carrying the new mascot: Boxer. "The crowd then returned to Old College Hall to hear the remainder of the ceremony and pay a last bit of respect to Benny Badger, an old tradition which has given way to a new one."
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