It’s the first time Amherst College will have an official mascot. Students, staff and alumni have until the end of November to submit their ideas.

This comes nine months after the college distanced itself from Lord Jeff, the controversial and unofficial school mascot.

In the recent past, mascot suggestions have included a squirrel, a moose or the Amherst Frost, after poet Robert Frost, who taught for decades at the college.
Whatever animal or concept, the mascot committee said it should unify the campus, represent positive qualities people can rally around and work well for both women’s and men’s sports teams.

In 2015, students rallied against racism on campus and demanded the school end its affiliation with Lord Jeffery Amherst, the 18th century British general whose wartime correspondence suggest the use of germ warfare against Native Americans.