By SOFIA HU
Thought Touchdown the Bear was the University mascot? According to President David Skorton, this is not the case, nor will it be in the foreseeable future.
Rather, the official Cornell mascot is simply the Big Red Bear, according to Skorton.
At the end of the last school year, the Student Assembly passed Resolution 85 — “Supporting the Creation of an Official Cornell Mascot” — which proposed that the University officially recognize Touchdown as the Cornell mascot.
Touchdown’s history at Cornell dates back to 1915, when the varsity football team collected $25 to buy a black bear cub, which it named Touchdown, according to the resolution, which was submitted by several alumni and current S.A. members.
“Since that day, Touchdown the Big Red Bear has served as the de facto mascot of Cornell University,” the resolution said.
However, on June 19, Skorton said in a response to the resolution that he and several other administrators believe the mascot is the Big Red Bear — not Touchdown, the bear cub.