Sacramento State students vote on whether to add a second mascot: a squirrel

Sac State students vote on whether squirrel will be school's second mascot

SACRAMENTO — The country is about to elect a new president, but at Sacramento State, students will cast their votes for a different type of candidate. This week, they will decide whether to adopt a second mascot: the squirrels. 

If you have taken a stroll through Sac State's campus you have probably noticed the plethora of trees and squirrels. 

"Every day, I see one," said junior at Sac State Donna Lavande. 

Gabriel Conejo Gallegos is one of Sacramento State's student government leaders, the executive vice president of Associated Students Inc. He helped turn students' passion for squirrels into a proposal to add them as a second mascot. 

"Being outside and seeing a little furry friend next to you brings a lot of comfort to students, especially during hard times," Conejo Gallegos said. 

Sac State President Luke Wood listened to students and gave them the choice to vote on three options: keep Herky the Hornet as the sole mascot, add a squirrel in addition to Herky, or add a different second mascot. 

"There's a lot of campuses that have two mascots," Wood said. "So I like to think of it as we love Herky, but why doesn't Herky have a sidekick?" 

Students have been buzzing about squirrels for years, even creating a Sacramento State squirrels Instagram page that has thousands of followers. 

"They're kind of like our pets when we're here," Sac State student Ezra Ilous said. 

CBS13 asked President Wood if the Instagram account would be allowed to stick around even if the mascot gets adopted. 

"Oh, that's a good question. Yes, they can definitely do that," he responded. "That's because that account really pre-dates and serves as the epithet for this." 

Nothing is set in stone yet, but some alumni and students are not so stoked about a second spirit mascot. 

"I feel like we have a lot of them on campus, but I just feel like stingers are a little bit more powerful," Sac State student Ashley Aragon said. 

Some early renderings of the mascot are floating around campus, but President Wood said that if students choose to add a second mascot, there will be a drawing competition and vote to decide what it officially will look like. 

"The bigger election may be this Friday when Sac State chooses our second mascot," President Wood said jokingly. 

President Wood told CBS13 that over 1,300 students have voted and, overwhelmingly, the squirrel is winning. 

The poll is open to Sacramento State Students until Friday.

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