wHat is a gael? New proposal For a New Mascot

How a new mascot will better represent the current and future Saint Mary’s Community. 

By Isabelle Delostrinos
Culture Columnist/ Potato Enthusiast

Let’s face it, school pride can be a bit tough when no one knows what your mascot is. University of Oregon has “Go Ducks”, USC has “Fight On” to go with their trojan, and even Stanford somehow finessed “Fear the Tree” out of their Christmas tree mascot. But what happens when we need to caption our Instagram selfies on Chapel Lawn? Or the enthusiastic photos with our friends at basketball games? #GoGaels? #GaelsRise?

After months of updating family members on my attendance here at SMC, someone always has to pose the question, “what’s a gael?” And you know what Uncle Greg, I wonder the same thing. This isn’t 1492, an updated mascot is necessary! Imagine how much easier defending our stomping grounds will be. No more questionable faces and scoffs at our unknown mascot. And for our marketing department, wouldn’t a more relatable mascot be better to draw in prospective students? I’m sorry Gideon but I think it's time for a new captain in this place. As a favor to the future generations at SMC, I propose a bigger, better, more Instagrammable, hashtag friendly, and well known mascot: a potato. 

It’s round, brown, and comes in all shapes and sizes. So many good things come from this one root vegetable. Mashed, fried, baked, thinly sliced, diced, cubed, you name it. And don’t even get me started on the family of fries. A potato as the SMC mascot will be representative of all who walk through our campus. It’s a universal object that many can see within themselves, making it a perfect mascot. 

Can you see the headlines? SMC Potatoes Win NCAA March Madness Tournament! Rolling Admissions: Become a Potato Today! #SMCPotatoes #MashEmUp. We’ll be paving the way for a new generation of mascots and will truly bring our luck to the table with this new mascot. I mean, who doesn’t want to be a potato?

Via shutterstock.com, Idaho Potato Bowl