Picture a huge silvery sheet, like a drive-in movie screen before the previews start. It drapes the brick façade of Fayerweather on the Friday evening of homecoming weekend. Nearby, hundreds of students and alumni are milling about.
At 8 p.m., President Biddy Martin takes the stage, and her voice booms: “After 2,000 suggestions and 9,200 votes… We. Are. The. MAMMOTHS!” Tugging on ropes, the facilities crew pulls down the sheet to reveal the new mascot design underneath. It is purple, fierce, stylized but not cartoonish. Cheers fill the air, as a grove of raised smartphones capture this moment in Amherst history.
“I’m definitely proud. I’m so glad we have a symbol we can all rally around,” says Olivia Pinney ’17.
“I like it more than I expected to,” concedes Jon Ralph ’86. “I like that he’s a fighting mascot and not a ready-to-go-extinct mascot.”
Dominique Manuel ’20 smiles. “I am satisfied: it’s strong, not cheesy.”
Adds Ben Gilsdorf ’21, “It looks like an animal that can bulldoze Wesleyan tomorrow.”
You got that right, Ben: In the last two minutes of Saturday’s football game, the Mammoths edged out the Cardinals, thanks to a thrilling 51-yard touchdown rush by Hasani Figueroa ’18. The final score was 21-17.
The team took the field by running through a large paper banner of the new Mammoth logo. And the stands were positively purple, full of fans wearing shirts emblazoned with the new College mascot.