THE TIMES-DELPHIC The weekly student newspaper of Drake University Vol. 139 | No. 17 | Feb. 19, 2020
FEATURES
SPORTS
COMMENTARY
From the Kissing Rock to Hubbelling, learn how SAA plans to keep Drake traditions alive.
Drake celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day to inspire female athletic participation.
The film “Birds of Prey” was released on Feb. 7. Read one critic’s review of the Harley Quinn movie.
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Dog days are over Drake mascot Griff announces retirement DRAKE UNIVERSITY’S GRIFF announced his retirement last week and has served as the school’s live mascot since 2015. He will retire in June of this year.
ERIN BELL
Cameron Bolton Staff Writer cameron.bolton@drake.edu
Griff, the mascot of Drake University, announced his retirement through a campus wide email on Feb. 5. Griff will be relieved from his duties on June 30. The reason for his retirement is Griff’s age. “Griff is seven years old right now, he’ll be eight on May 8,” said Erin Bell, Griff’s caretaker and Drake’s associate director of marketing. “Bulldogs typically live eight to twelve years; he’s a very healthy, well-bred bulldog, so we anticipate that he will be on the upper end of that. He’s doing great right now. There’s no health issues or anything at this point.” Bell said she wants to give Griff some time while he is still healthy to just relax and enjoy doing nothing at her house, on the couch.
Griff is an example of Drake’s live mascot program, which means having an actual live animal to represent the school. According to Bell, most schools do not have a live mascot program. In the country, there are about fifty schools that do. Griff has been the live mascot at Drake University since 2015.
“I know that the next Griff or the next live animal mascot will be just as have that bulldog spirit” “Different schools run their programs differently, but Griff is really a representation of the entire Drake University,” Bell said. “Not just athletics,
not just admissions, but he does everything. So he’s an ambassador, he’s an example of what it means to be a Drake bulldog and he kind of displays all good things about Drake University.” Bell further explained that Griff’s retirement would consist of enjoying life as a family dog: spending more time at home, going on walks, laying around and doing normal, domestic dog things. Bell also hopes to continue Griff’s visits to the special education classroom at Delaware Elementary, where Griff works as a therapy dog. “I am very sad Griff is retiring. I love English bulldogs. I had one when I was younger,” Kyle Tekautz, a sophomore studying strategic political communications with a concentration in leadership development said. “That’s kind of my reason I came to Drake is because I just love bulldogs so
much. Whether it was a good decision to apply to all colleges that have bulldogs or not, I’m here, and I love it so much. And Griff is getting up there in age, so it is time for him to retire when he’s still in his prime, and Erin recognized that.” Tekautz works at the University Communications Department and Marketing Office as a marketing intern, a job that has allowed him to get to know Griff. Griff sent out another email on Feb. 10 announcing that his successor has been found. Starting July 1, Griff II, aka George, will take his place as the new live mascot. The name George comes from George Carpenter, the first president of Drake. Bell was the person in charge of finding a successor. According to her, what she looked for in a bulldog was a lot of the same things that Griff is and that Porterhouse, Griff’s
PHOTO COURTESY OF
predecessor, was. It’s first and foremost about personality and disposition, Bell said, a dog that is patient and tolerant, easygoing, social, friendly, etc. are all imperative things for a successful live mascot program. “I know that the next Griff or the next live animal mascot will be just as have that bulldog spirit,” Tekautz said. “It won’t be Griff, but it will be that bulldog spirit.” Griff’s email also contained a video proposing a five-month celebration. Though nothing is set up yet, Bell is looking into different opportunities for good times to have retirement events. Bell also anticipates doing a number of events with Griff’s retirement over Drake relays and his birthday. “I think it’s a really great legacy of positivity, unity, acceptance,” Bell said. “I think those are all things that Griff is leaving behind.”
Rainbow Union: “It Gets Better” workshop
Grace Altenhofen Contributing Writer grace.altenhofen@drake.edu
Rainbow Union, Drake University’s LGBT+ student organization, has partnered with the Des Moines Performing Arts Center and the “It Gets Better” project to hold an LGBT+ Allyship Workshop on Feb. 13. Rainbow Union President Brynn Yetzer said the idea for an allyship workshop was one that had been raised in the past, but the organization had not had the time or funding to make it a reality until now. “The opportunity to actually do it presented itself when the Des Moines Performing Arts Center reached out to us in November of 2019 to let us know that they would be hosting the It Gets Better tour and that the tour was interested in doing some of their week of outreach events on Drake’s campus,” Yetzer said. “This event took a lot of coordination between us, DPAC and the tour members,” Yetzer said. “There was a lot of logistics to figure out and paperwork to do.” Though the “It Gets Better” tour was in charge of creating the actual content of the
presentation, Yetzer said they gave a description of what the event would look like. “The general outline I received included a presentation about the history and dimensions of allyship, a few allyship case studies and a couple of opportunities to discuss allyship with the people around you,” Yetzer said. Rainbow Union member Emma Grace Bradley said she hopes the presentation teaches allies how to respectfully ask questions when they do not know something. “I would say with the LGBT community, people who want to be allies really don’t know how to start being allies,” Bradley said. “I feel like a lot of people who aren’t part of the LGBT community are afraid to ask questions, and asking questions is a really good place to start, but they’re afraid of offending people. That’s why they should go to the workshop.” Yetzer said one of the main goals is to help allies understand the challenges faced by marginalized groups. “The goal is for people to better understand the experiences of sexual orientation and gender identity minorities and leave the event with the skills to be better allies to these communities,” Yetzer said. “Being an ally to marginalized communities is
extremely important.” Those not belonging to marginalized groups should especially work on being allies, Yetzer said, so they can use their privilege to help others. “I believe it is because many people with power and privilege only listen to other people with power and privilege,” Yetzer said. “People who do have certain privileges should use them to advocate for marginalized communities. Being an ally is the best way to help demarginalize communities and move towards equality.” Jacob Lish, Rainbow Union’s representative to UNITY Roundtable, emphasized the importance of being an ally, whether it be in an active or passive manner. “I hope people just take away a wider understanding of the LGBT community on campus and where they can stand and how to be an ally, whether that be an active ally, like showing up to different events, or being a passive ally and being around others and being accepting of others and different things like that,” Lish said. Yetzer said there is the possibility the program could turn into an annual event. “I think it is a great idea and it would be really cool if this could be an annual event, but I don’t
know yet if it’s feasible,” Yetzer said. “I will pay attention to how the tour runs the event to see if it’s something that students could lead themselves. If that is the case, I could definitely see us going forward with doing a similar program on an annual basis.” Until then, Yetzer said they encourage everyone to attend Rainbow Union meetings to continue in their allyship to the LGBT community.
“I want people to know that RU is open to all Drake students. I have found that a number of straight students feel like they wouldn’t be welcome at our meetings because they aren’t part of the LGBTQ+ community,” Yetzer said. “One of our goals as an organization is to educate people outside of our community about who we are and what issues we are currently facing.”
RAINBOW UNION held an LGBTQ+ workshop on Feb. 13. PHOTO
COURTESY OF DRAKE RAINBOW UNION
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