Dear Tiffany,
There has been some recent controversy surrounding the mascot of your alma mater San Diego State University.
What is your take on the renewed debate?
Sincerely,
Justin Maxwell
Columbus, Ohio
Tiffany Disney
Owner of the Mighty Ducks of San Diego (NHL)
San Diego State graduate; Class of 2005
"This debate had been ongoing before I even enrolled."
"During my freshman year, the school was in the middle of retiring its then-mascot Monty Montezuma."
ABOVE: Carlos Gutierrez as Monty Montezuma in the 1990's IOTL.
"Every once in a while, I still see vintage merchandise with the old, frowny-face Monty..."
"It is true that previous iterations of Monty would be considered culturally insensitive to modern eyes. When I was a freshman at SDSU, Dr. Stephen Weber was our chancellor (bottom left). He experimented with an Ambassador Montezuma (bottom right) that he thought would appease the indigenous activists who took offense to Monty. But of course, Ambassador Montezuma was booed by the alumni.
"After my freshman year, that was when the school's athletics department retired the red-faced Monty in favor of the SD initials."
"Carlos Gutierrez, the man who performed at Aztec football games as Monty during the Marshall Faulk era, told me recently that he was very hurt by the school phasing out Monty Montezuma because he tried to make his costume as historically accurate as possible. Gutierrez also said he brought in Aztec scholars from Mexico City to help him with the design."
"I've heard about schools like Utah, Florida State and Central Michigan being able to meet halfway with the Ute, Seminole and Chippewa leaders respectively. Here in San Diego, the Aztecs' current branding actually enjoys overwhelming support from the Hispanic community. On the other hand, there are those within Native American circles who point out that the Aztec name was adopted during a less-enlightened time period. What I'd like to see is for my alma mater to go the Florida State route with the blessing of Hispanic activists and Aztec scholars alike."
"Initially, I proposed the name 'Alebrijes' for a possible rebrand for SDSU. But after talking with Hispanic students and alumni, I'll likely save the Alebrije name for my new WPHL team. The compromise I hope the school can reach with Hispanic and Indigenous community leaders is that the Aztec name stay put while human mascots step aside in favor of a Jaguar or another animal symbolic to Aztec culture."