SGA moves to explore replacing Goucher's mascot
Lori Shull
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: News
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But the mammal he is loosely based on is a stranger to Towson, as in the rest of the state. Its relative, the groundhog, is the one native to Maryland.
Recognizing Goucher's recent commitment to environmental awareness and sustainability, Jared Margulies '08, has decided our mascot should reflect the same values. In a meeting of the Student Government Association (SGA) legislature on Feb. 5, he introduced a resolution to create a committee to explore the possibility of changing Goucher's mascot from a gopher to a groundhog.
"What I am here to say is the gopher should not be our mascot," Margulies said. "There's another small terrestrial mammal that should be our mascot. The groundhog."
He then presented a power-point stating several reasons to change the mascot. His primary reasoning was that the groundhog is a native species.
"The change would be in line with Goucher's new focus of environmental awareness and sustainability and our Maryland locality," he said.
The resolution was debated amid lots of laughter. Royce DuBiner '10, volunteered to lead the exploratory committee before the resolution was even voted on.
Margulies, who is not a member of the legislature, was eventually allowed to submit the resolution after a ruling by SGA's parliamentarian, Max Temkin '09. According to its constitution, all voting members of SGA may propose resolutions (Article 2.1.8) but it says nothing about non-members having the right to do the same.
"The constitution does not explicitly prohibit the submission of legislation by students who are not members of legislature, and we're trying to be a more open committee and open this up to a broad campus this year, I see no problem with [this resolution]," Max Temkin '09, SGA parliamentarian, said.
The same article also says that any proposed resolution must be distributed to members a week before debate. This also did not happen, though it was not brought up by a member of legislature in the meeting.
The resolution was passed 19 in favor, 10 in opposition and three abstentions, according to the Q's unofficial count. At press time, the official meeting minutes had not yet been approved.
The committee will be created at the next legislature meeting.
"I think some people have trouble seeing the connection between changing the school mascot and environmental and ecological sensitivity; however, I would argue that changes of a philosophical or less tangible nature are just as important to creating an overall ecological paradigm shift, which I believe is essential to creating a truly 'sustainable' world, however you define it," Margulies said in an e-mail.
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