If any incoming freshmen are unexcited to cheer for a large color, future classes may be able to rally around a mascot: the Moose.
While Dartmouth teams have historically been called the Indians, and currently are referred to as the Big Green, neither of these titles was ever officially adopted by the College. Likewise, the Moose is not an officially sanctioned mascot.
The Moose was the brainchild of a group of four athletes who felt that the College sorely needed a mascot at sporting events.
Hank Brier '98, Peter Halas '98, Jay Lavender '97 and Matt Sechrest '97 joined together in the spring of 1996 to organize a drive to find a new mascot for the College.
"Nothing's wrong with the Big Green," Brier told The Dartmouth in April of 1996. "We'd still have it as part of the name, but it would be nice to be able to say, 'Go Mountaineers,' or whatever."
Calling themselves the "Big Green Backers" and joined by then-Student Assembly President Jon Heavey '97, the group set out to solicit student opinion on a name for the new mascot.
Through a survey conducted on the World Wide Web in the fall of 1996, the group found that the Moose was the consensus favorite among the 500 students who submitted their electronic vote.
Approximately 30 percent voted to see the College adopt the Moose as a mascot. Other suggestions included the Mountaineers and the Dragons, and the infamous Indian still received 10 percent of the vote. In addition, almost eight percent voted against the adoption of a new mascot.
Nonetheless, the group unveiled the Dartmouth Moose last winter at a men's basketball game against the University of Pennsylvania.
The Moose, dressed in a green Dartmouth tank-top and white shorts also made an appearance the following night against Princeton University.
Fan reactions to the mascot's first appearance was positive. Some younger fans from the Hanover area were most impressed, shouting that the Moose was "awesome" and "cool."
Dartmouth students, too, were quite enthusiastic.
"The Moose is what the crowd needs," Shirin Sioshansi '00 told The Dartmouth last February. "We need somebody who gets all rowdy ... we're a bit reserved."
Dartmouth alumni who witnessed the Moose's arrival also seemed pleased with the change. Dick Gruen '34 told The Dartmouth he thought the Moose was "marvelous."
According to a 1972 story in The Dartmouth, "the symbol was never officially adopted by the College, but Green teams were given the names of Indians by Boston sports writers in the 1920s to symbolize the savagery of the men of the then almost inaccessible North Woods."
The Indian symbol appeared on athletic wear and stationary from the 1920s until the College abandoned it in 1972.
