California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) announced Feb. 7 that it will begin its selection of a new mascot by asking students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members to submit their ideas for evaluation later this month.
The legislative branch of student government, the Associated Students Inc. Senate, adopted its resolution Jan. 30 to begin a student-led process for the creation of a mascot, which was previously Prospector Pete.
According to the college, the timeline for the process is as follows:
• Students, alumni, faculty, staff, community members and others may submit mascot proposals to asicsulb.org/mascotsearch from Monday, Feb. 11, through Friday, March 8.
• A student-government committee will evaluate submissions that meet design criteria. Leading proposals will be added to a ballot to be announced in early April.
• Information on the various options will be provided, and an online community poll will be conducted from Monday, April 15, to Friday, May 3.
• The student referendum is scheduled from Monday, May 6, to Wednesday, May 8. Results will be announced Thursday, May 9.
• Student government leaders will make their official recommendation to CSULB President Jane Close Conoley by early June. The final result will be announced in August, before the start of 2019-2020 school year.
Those wishing to propose a new mascot must include a sketch and narrative explaining why their proposal would function as a quality representative for the college, officials wrote. Mascots based on human figures or personae will not be considered.