Replacing University’s Montezuma Mascot Proves Tough

A university that prides itself on tackling society’s most vexing intellectual issues in an atmosphere of civility has run up against a problem too hot to handle: finding a new mascot.

Stephen Weber, president of San Diego State, announced Thursday that he has suspended indefinitely the work of his New Mascot Committee, which was formed in April to find a replacement for longtime mascot Monty Montezuma.

The committee’s recommendation for an Aztec eagle warrior--dressed in faux eagle’s head and feathers--proved just as controversial as Monty, who was banished after protests from Native American activists.

They said the school’s depiction of the Aztec emperor was culturally demeaning and even racist.

“A mascot is intended to be an appropriate unifying, spirit-raising symbol of the university,” Weber said. “To date, we have been unable to develop a mascot that meets these criteria.”

Weber’s decision means the Aztecs will be without a mascot when the football season opens Sept. 14 with a home game against the Arizona State University Sun Devils at Qualcomm Stadium.

To placate Monty loyalists, Weber had promised to have a mascot in place by then.

Although hailed by some students and alumni, Weber’s decision to veto the mascot committee’s eagle warrior was immediately denounced by Monty fans. It was even criticized by some students who had agreed that Monty was over the top culturally.

“This is pathetic,” said county Supervisor Dianne Jacob, one of the university’s distinguished alumnae of the year.

“The proud tradition of Monty Montezuma has now been eliminated because of the desire of top administrators to be politically correct. Where’s the backbone?”

But former student Reynaldo Ortiz said he was pleased with Weber’s announcement.

“What part of this don’t they understand?” Ortiz said.

“You just don’t mess around with somebody else’s culture for your amusement. People are not mascots.”

The mascot issue has flared at numerous campuses in recent years.

In late May the state Assembly rejected a bill by Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) that would have made California the first state to ban Native American team mascots at public schools.

After two years of rancorous debate, Weber decided last year to elevate Monty Montezuma into Ambassador Montezuma and have him represent the university and discuss the glories of Aztec culture at schools and other educational settings.

This spring, Weber appointed a committee of professors, students, alums and administrators to bring a suggestion to him for a mascot that would be culturally sensitive but retain the university’s tradition of referring to its athletic teams as Aztecs.

Renewed Dispute

The committee, however, fell into the same schism that had divided the university and surrounding community over Monty.

The recommendation for the eagle warrior was carried on a narrow vote.

“I don’t think anybody ever thought we could be unanimous,” said mascot committee Co-Chairman Dennis Cushman, the university’s associate vice president of marketing and communications.

With the help of Berkeley designer Kurt Osaki, the committee narrowed several dozen suggestions down to three:

* The eagle warrior.

* A puma warrior dressed in ersatz mountain lion costume.

* A more whimsical, stylized Aztec figure.

“The eagle warrior just sounds like Monty Lite,” Ortiz said.

Rather than fight the Monty battle redux, Weber decided to retreat and deal with other campus issues.

“For now, we will focus our attention on other priorities,” he said.

Devotion to Monty runs deep in this community, where San Diego State graduates play major roles in business, politics and government.

San Diego State has used the name Aztecs since the 1920s, and the first Monty Montezuma appeared as the university mascot in the 1940s.

Although the Monty character went through several incarnations, he was finally portrayed by a handsome, muscular undergraduate, running onto the football field in full headdress with a flaming spear, urging fans to root for the Aztecs.

Native American activists accused the figure of being a historically inaccurate portrayal of the 16th century ruler who was worshipped as a god by his subjects and was of a contemplative demeanor.

Mascot’s Make-Over

Despite overwhelming support for Monty from students, alumni and the Board of Supervisors--all five of them San Diego State graduates--Weber decided Monty was an inappropriate mascot.

But instead of terminating Monty, Weber decided to elevate him into an ambassador, complete with a new historically accurate costume and demeanor, vetted by various academics.

The student body government--in defiance of most of their constituents--had sided with Native American activists who called Monty an offensive anachronism.

Still, student body leaders had not considered that making Monty into an ambassador would leave the university without a mascot.

“This is going to be awful for school spirit,” said Mary Tolentino, a marketing major and vice president of the student government.

“Look at schools that really have spirit like Long Beach [49ers] and Dominguez Hills [Toros], they have yells and mascots. San Diego will have nothing. Aztec spirit is the whole reason a lot of people come here.”

Although Weber’s decision has put the issue on hold, another marketing challenge looms with the scheduled announcement next week of a new logo to grace the university’s mugs, T-shirts and other trinkets.

With Monty out, the school wants another symbol to help sell San Diego State gear--an important source of funds for the athletic department.

Cushman said: “These things are very emotionally charged.”