University's popular mascot deemed "polarizing" for being a white man

Almost the opposite version of the Washington Redskins name controversy has emerged at the University of Denver. The mascot for DU’s sports teams, the Pioneers, used to be “Denver Boone,” a Daniel Boone–esque frontiersman figure, until he was retired in 1998 for not properly representing the student body because of his race and gender; a university committee recently decided they simply won’t replace him.

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“Boone was a polarizing figure that did not reflect the growing diversity of the DU community, but rather was an image that many women, persons of color, international students and faculty members found difficult to relate to as defining the pioneering spirit,” the university’s chancellor said in a statement earlier this year.

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