Editing Amherst College (section)

=== Mascot ===
In the second decade of the 21st century, the original unofficial mascot of Amherst College, Lord [[Jeffery Amherst]], became a cause of concern in the Amherst community.<ref>{{cite news|last=Corey|first=Ethan|title=College Weighs Tradition and Inclusivity in Mascot Debate|url=http://amherststudent.amherst.edu/?q=article/2013/04/03/college-weighs-tradition-and-inclusivity-mascot-debate|access-date=May 25, 2014|newspaper=The Amherst Student|date=April 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130420021744/http://amherststudent.amherst.edu/?q=article%2F2013%2F04%2F03%2Fcollege-weighs-tradition-and-inclusivity-mascot-debate|archive-date=April 20, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=nytmascot>{{cite news | newspaper = New York Times | access-date = April 5, 2023 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/us/amherst-college-drops-lord-jeff-as-mascot.html | date = January 26, 2016 | title = Amherst College Drops 'Lord Jeff' as Mascot | first = Jess | last = Bidgood | archive-date = October 26, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181026064519/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/us/amherst-college-drops-lord-jeff-as-mascot.html | url-status = live }}</ref> Many sought to separate the school from the problematic legacy of Lord Jeffery Amherst, in particular his advocacy of the use of [[biological warfare]] against [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]].<ref>{{cite web|last=d'Errico|first=Peter|title=Jeffrey Amherst and Smallpox Blankets| url= http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/amherst/lord_jeff.html|access-date=May 25, 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120204051344/http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/amherst/lord_jeff.html|archive-date=February 4, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2014, after a wild moose found its way onto the Amherst College campus and into the backyard of the house of the college president,<ref>{{cite news|last=Merzbach|first=Scott|title=Wandering Moose Creates a Stir in Amherst, prompts tweet from Amherst College President Biddy Martin|url=http://www.gazettenet.com/home/11984581-95/wandering-moose-creates-a-stir-in-amherst-prompts-tweets-from-amherst-college-president-biddy|access-date=May 25, 2014|newspaper=[[Daily Hampshire Gazette]]|location=[[Northampton, Massachusetts|Northampton, Mass.]]|date=May 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910071449/http://www.gazettenet.com/home/11984581-95/wandering-moose-creates-a-stir-in-amherst-prompts-tweets-from-amherst-college-president-biddy|archive-date=September 10, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> students organized a Facebook campaign to change the mascot of the school to a moose.<ref name=Bullwinkle /> The page grew rapidly in popularity, receiving over 900 "likes" in under two weeks,<ref name=Bullwinkle /> and inspiring both a Twitter and Tumblr account for the newly proposed mascot. At the Commencement ceremony for the class of 2014, the moose mascot was mentioned by Biddy Martin in her address, and the Dining Hall served Moose Tracks ice cream in front of an ice sculpture of a moose.<ref>[//scontent-b-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1.0-9/59303_10203747867714073_6503822668927316018_n.jpg Photo of ice sculpture of moose.]</ref>

In February 2015, discussion of a mascot change continued when the editorial board of the ''Amherst Student'', the college's official student-run newspaper, came out in favor of "the moose-scot".<ref name=Bullwinkle>{{cite web|title=Moose-scot: A Call to Arms|work=Amherst Student|url=http://amherststudent.amherst.edu/?q=article%2F2015%2F02%2F04%2Fmoose-scot-call-arms|date=February 4, 2015|access-date=November 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021205825/http://amherststudent.amherst.edu/?q=article%2F2015%2F02%2F04%2Fmoose-scot-call-arms|archive-date=October 21, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In November 2015 the student body and the faculty overwhelmingly voted to vacate the mascot.<ref name=drop/> That same month, several hundred students who staged a sit-in protest against racism at the college library included among their demands a call for the college to cease use of the Lord Jeff mascot.<ref>{{cite news|last=Glaun|first=Dan|title=Amherst College President Biddy Martin addresses student protesters during library sit-in|url=http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/11/amherst_college_president_bidd_2.html |accessdate=January 26, 2016|newspaper=[[The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts)|Springfield (Mass.) Republican]]|date=November 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107061413/http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/11/amherst_college_president_bidd_2.html|archive-date=January 7, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The decision to drop the mascot was made official by the college's trustees on January 26, 2016.<ref name=nytmascot/><ref name=drop>{{cite news|last=Glaun|first=Dan|title=Amherst College trustees vote to drop controversial Lord Jeff mascot| url= http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/01/amherst_college_trustees_vote.html|access-date=January 26, 2016|newspaper=[[The Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts)|Springfield (Mass.) Republican]]|date=January 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127092823/http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/01/amherst_college_trustees_vote.html|archive-date=January 27, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2017, Amherst announced that their official mascot would be the [[mammoth]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/03/after-sending-lord-jeff-packing-amherst-college-picks-mammoth-mascot/2pT6Etr7n1jrjCwFRANK8M/story.html|title=After sending Lord Jeff packing, Amherst College picks mammoth as mascot|last=Rosen|first=Andy|date=April 3, 2017|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|access-date=April 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421092410/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/03/after-sending-lord-jeff-packing-amherst-college-picks-mammoth-mascot/2pT6Etr7n1jrjCwFRANK8M/story.html|archive-date=April 21, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=WP004>Boswell, Thomas.
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/changing-a-nickname-seems-like-a-seismic-shift-but-its-rarely-a-mammoth-deal/2017/12/14/c4494cba-e0d5-11e7-bbd0-9dfb2e37492a_story.html Changing a nickname seems like a seismic shift, but it's rarely a Mammoth deal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217071347/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/changing-a-nickname-seems-like-a-seismic-shift-but-its-rarely-a-mammoth-deal/2017/12/14/c4494cba-e0d5-11e7-bbd0-9dfb2e37492a_story.html |date=December 17, 2017 }}. Washington Post. December 14, 2017.</ref> Mammoths beat the other finalists "Valley Hawks", "Purple and White", "Wolves", and "Fighting Poets" in a ranked-choice election process. <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.masslive.com/news/2017/03/poets_hawks_wolves_on_amherst.html |title=Poets, hawks, wolves on list to replace Lord Jeff as Amherst College mascot |access-date=7 April 2025}}</ref> The mammoth is linked to Amherst due to the long-standing presence of a Columbian Mammoth skeleton on display in the [[Beneski Museum of Natural History]] on campus dating back to the 1920s excavation of the skeleton by Amherst professor [[Frederic Brewster Loomis]] in Melbourne, Florida.<ref name="Loomis papers Amherst">{{cite web |title=Frederic Brewster Loomis (AC 1896) Papers |url=https://archivesspace.amherst.edu/repositories/2/resources/29 |website=Amherst College Archives and Special Collections |access-date=12 February 2022 |archive-date=February 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212013752/https://archivesspace.amherst.edu/repositories/2/resources/29 |url-status=live }}</ref>