Dawgs & Weasels
Last modified November 11, 2007
Please join us in our efforts to bring back a Husky symbol that looks like a DAWG! (instead of a weasel) and with it some of the pride that goes with the long heritage of a winning tradition as Huskies! Although it was not really the first (it was adopted in 1979), this image (right) looks like a Husky: 
Who let the Dawgs out? As a Husky fan, one can’t help but wonder why the current mascot (left) was approved. The only explanation seems to be a futile attempt to “modernize” the image of the fearsome Husky. Instead of modernizing it though, they seem to have changed species altogether. As only a glance will tell even the most casual observer, the feared and respected Husky, full of tradition (a winning tradition) has been replaced by a weasel. What else would one call this image? (left) Compare it to the lower image of a real weasel. The only difference? One is a long-eared weasel. Now add a couple of ears to the weasel, ruff out the fur a little, change the coloring slightly and Voila! Instant Husky… Not! What we have at best, is a cross between a Husky and a weasel. Or in other words, a Wusky, sometimes spelled Wussky, often shortened to Wuss…
Instead of playing & cheering for the tradition of the Husky mascot, students are now expected to play with the same pride and cheer with the same enthusiasm for a weasel!!! The University of Washington weasels! It is a mascot more aptly applied to politicians! The “Washington (DC) weasels”. One wouldn’t think of calling our Huskies “weasels”, so why use a graphic that looks like one as a logo? This image (lower right)
was adopted in 1995 and is known as the “3/4″ Husky. In a poll of alumni and students, this image was either first or second on all ballots. The ballots were divided between alumni overall and students. The alumni overwhelmingly called for a variation of the realistic Husky (70.6%) over the weasel (7.5%) with 15.7% voting for “other”. More tellingly, the students preferred one of the “classic” logos (51.4%) to the weasel (26.8%) with 21.8% voting for “other”. In other words, 92.5% of the alumni prefer anything but the weasel while 73.2% of the students detest the ghastly beast. With this kind of unpopularity, why does the university persist in keeping the weasel? One can only wonder. Some have speculated that the new logo was done at the insistence of Nike. Perhaps it is easier (less expensive) to duplicate. Pure speculation, assuredly. It probably makes no difference whatsoever that Nike is owned by Phil Knight, a noted Oregon duck alum. That theory seems “out there”, but if it were true, then surely, Mr. Knight is having a good chuckle about his little joke of turning the respectable Husky into a weasel. This would be a ruse to rival the famous Cal Tech incident from 1959… The table below illustrates the voting and breaks the alumni vote into age groups.
| Rankings | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | other |
| Alumni Overall Votes: 2,963 |
 33.0% |
 21.8% |
 15.8% |
 7.5% |
 6.2% |
15.7% |
| Students Votes: 770 |
26.8% |
25.7% |
13.9% |
7.3% |
 4.5% |
21.8% |
| Older Alumni Votes: 756 |
39.0% |
28.3% |
18.8% |
3.8% |
 3.0% |
7.1% |
| Middle Alumni Votes: 1,047 |
30.7% |
22.7% |
18.9% |
6.2% |
6.1% |
15.4% |
| Young Alumni Votes: 1,160 |
30.8% |
18.7% |
11.9% |
10.6% |
9.1% |
18.9% |
|
Votes for the above were selected from the following insignias. See the percentage of votes that each received.
|
The above tables and the following history of the Husky logo are from the official UW website (http://www.washington.edu):
Washington’s teams were called Sun Dodgers starting in 1919. The nickname originated when a college magazine of the same name was banned from campus and, in protest, students adopted the name for their teams. But the Sun Dodgers did not do much for the Northwest’s image, so a committee set out in 1921 to pick a new nickname.
While no progress was being made on the name change, athletic officials adopted Vikings during the semester break in December of 1921. When the students returned to campus, they immediately protested the name change.
In an attempt to determine a mascot, the committee came down to two final choices — Malamutes and Huskies. The committee felt those were appropriate because of Seattle’s nearness to the Alaskan frontier. The Husky was voted the most appropriate. The University officially accepted the nickname Huskies for its athletic teams on Feb. 3, 1922. The announcement was made at halftime of the Washington-Washington State basketball game. The nickname was selected by a joint comittee of students, coaches, faculty, alumni and businessmen. The name “Huskies” was presented at halftime by football captain-elect Robert Ingram. When Ingram made his speech, large white pacards were hoisted in the rooters section occupied by varsity letterwinners displaying the slogans: “The Husky stands for — fight and tenacity — character and courage — endurance and willingness.”What does a weasel stand for? When someone has deceived us, we say he is a “weasel”. Politicians come to mind when one thinks of weasels. And that reminds me… Who let the weasels out?…(to be continued)
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