As we enter the second week of our vigorous defense of our school identity, it’s a good time to take stock of where we are and what difference you, our readers, are making.
Here are some facts:
- You clearly care about this mascot and identity issues…
- Last Wednesday’s lead post entitled “Sneaky New DU Campus Safety Policy Effectively Bans Boone Mascot Costume from DU Campus” is, by far, the most viewed story we’ve ever produced, with over 6,000 views. That’s the same size as an entire sellout DU hockey crowd at Magness Arena, and remarkable considering the small overall size of the DU community.
- Our articles on this topic over the last six days have generated LetsGoDU 12,000 views with readers coming from our 1,178 Twitter followers and LetsGoDU Facebook page.
- It’s not just our blog viewership that’s skyrocketed. Our friend, Denver Boone, reports that the character’s Facebook page has reached 107,682 users this week, up almost 4,000,000% over the previous seven days — yes, that is 4 million percent.
- Over 12,000 people engaged with the Boone on Facebook over the last six days — clicking, liking, commenting and sharing
- These engagements came from all 50 states, as the issue spreads well beyond Denver
- LetsGoDU reports 316 reactions, likes, shares, and comments on Facebook, Twitter, and LetsGoDU.com on the Boone ban and Pioneer nickname articles. Denver Boone shows over 1,376 reactions, likes, shares and comments on Facebook and Twitter – there were so many comments on one story we had to estimate.
- Just ONE story on Denver Boone Facebook was shared by 127 people alone! If each of those readers has 300 followers, that reach is 38,100 people – more than half the size of the Broncos crowd at Mile-High Stadium
Okay, so we’ve established that you care about this issue. What effect is it having on the policy-makers on the DU campus?
We’re hearing the following:
- DU staffers in athletics, alumni relations, and administration are receiving a steady stream of e-mails and phone calls from you on this topic.
- Members of the Board of Trustees are receiving and talking about your responses.
- The Chancellor is also receiving your emails, and hearing from the Board of Trustees about your communications to them.
- Phone calls and emails are flying between members of the senior administration, and many were surprised by the high level of passion shown by those seeking to retain our mascot, our nickname, and our traditions.
- Meetings are taking place to discuss these issues on campus
Here are a few more facts DU should consider as they listen to our views. According to the latest customer service research at Trackur:
- 91% of unhappy customers will never do business with the company again. Of course, universities are not-for-profit organizations and not businesses, but it’s reasonable to assume that if DU does not listen to the wishes of its core base, the threat of serious attrition is very real.
- 96% percent of unhappy customers never complain. Thus, DU’s people should be aware of not only those of us who are contacting them but also those who they may lose in this controversy who will never contact them.
- A customer who is dissatisfied typically tells 9-15 people about their poor experience, and some 13% will tell 20 people. Given the ease of communication on social media, it’s clear that the DU community is spreading their dissatisfaction rapidly on this issue.
Bottom Line:
- Identity matters to people at DU, and the more we can keep letting DU know we care about this issue, the more chance we have at a positive outcome.
- We are hoping DU will announce in writing that the Pioneer nickname won’t be changed. That would help to restore our trust in DU.
- We would also hope that the mask ban policy will be scrapped or modified to include Denver Boone, as it has DU has proven to us that the policy and its implementation were severely flawed and DU’s motives behind the policy were political, and not safety.
- We hope this issue improves two-way communications so we can solve this issue together and we can return our focus to DU sports, campus news and building school spirit.
Please take a few minutes and write to alumni@du.edu and cc the boardoftrustees@du.edu and let them know how you feel about the banning of Denver Boone on the DU campus as well as your thoughts about any efforts to change or eliminate Pioneers as the University of Denver nickname. Your voices are still critical to this issue and please spread the word…
This was all so preventable.
A DU Vice Chancellor called me & two other Alums in mid-December to announce the Mask Ban starting on Jan. 1st. I told her that I thought it was a terrible policy and that I would disassociate my self from the University if they followed though.
I forgot to mention that I would enlist many others to help blow this up on the internet. Was that wrong? 🙂
There are several truths I know about this situation (debacle):
• No one is more passionate about DU than Damien Gooddard. During the ten plus years I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with him, I have witnessed the extraordinary effort, commitment and financial resources he has invested in promoting DU. We all need to thank Damien for his efforts.
• As usual, the DU administration has underestimated the resolve of the DU community. They continue to operate in a vacuum.
• They take us all for fools that we won’t see through the “mask” smokescreen.
• It is absolutely imperative that EVERYONE that is outraged by the actions of the DU administration and BOT convey their thoughts to them. The email addresses of these groups/individuals have already been provided.
• There is no guarantee that this issue will have a favorable outcome. We do need to know that we have made every effort to amend this policy.
I sent my email over the weekend. Bring Back Boone!!
1/9/2018 @ 12 PM CST – DU have been sending out emails today that rumors of a Pioneer name change are False. In other words DU were looking into changing the name last week and now because alumni emails we’re Denver Pioneers forever. #EndDUMaskBan #BringBackBoone
I’m easier to please then most. However, Pioneers must always be DU’s nickname. Can you imagine at next year’s Frozen Four the public address announcer saying: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, NOW TAKING THE ICE, YOUR 2 TIME DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, THE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER SNOWBALLS. No way I could ever get used to handling that. I’m nauseous just writing it. Some call us Pios, which sound pretty cool and 4 letters on “whiteboard” or any other sign reads smooth. As for our mascot, I want Boone, either as official or unofficial. Any crap about Boone mask keeping Boone out is hogwash. Does an unofficial Boone need insurance, maybe, and we’ll buy it. Does Boone need Mascot Boot Camp/training; that can be done. Finally, the person wearing the “Boone head/mask” can identify himself or herself to security. I’m fine with Boone as an unofficial mascot forever. School is loser here financially; Boone gear is hot. Women love my Boone scarf. Let’s keep plugging away. Go DU! Pioneers forever!! Bring back Boone!!!
We need to seize this moment and ask for a full reinstatement of Boone, not just a change of the mask policy. There will never be more momentum than right now.
Yes, keep fighting!
I am hearing some encouraging feedback that our messages are getting through to the people who matter, but we’re still very much on the brink.
While some people are getting private assurances that the Pioneer nickname is safe, it is very important to keep pushing. Private assurances are not the same as public statements from the Chancellor and/or Board of Trustees.
And the mask policy has already shown us that the administration can be disingenuous on this topic.
Keep the pressure on. Keep sending your emails to the Board of Trustees – boardoftrustees@du.edu
This was all so preventable.
A DU Vice Chancellor called me & two other Alums in mid-December to announce the Mask Ban starting on Jan. 1st. I told her that I thought it was a terrible policy and that I would disassociate my self from the University if they followed though.
I forgot to mention that I would enlist many others to help blow this up on the internet. Was that wrong? 🙂
There are several truths I know about this situation (debacle):
• No one is more passionate about DU than Damien Gooddard. During the ten plus years I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with him, I have witnessed the extraordinary effort, commitment and financial resources he has invested in promoting DU. We all need to thank Damien for his efforts.
• As usual, the DU administration has underestimated the resolve of the DU community. They continue to operate in a vacuum.
• They take us all for fools that we won’t see through the “mask” smokescreen.
• It is absolutely imperative that EVERYONE that is outraged by the actions of the DU administration and BOT convey their thoughts to them. The email addresses of these groups/individuals have already been provided.
• There is no guarantee that this issue will have a favorable outcome. We do need to know that we have made every effort to amend this policy.
I sent my email over the weekend. Bring Back Boone!!
1/9/2018 @ 12 PM CST – DU have been sending out emails today that rumors of a Pioneer name change are False. In other words DU were looking into changing the name last week and now because alumni emails we’re Denver Pioneers forever. #EndDUMaskBan #BringBackBoone
I’m easier to please then most. However, Pioneers must always be DU’s nickname. Can you imagine at next year’s Frozen Four the public address announcer saying: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, NOW TAKING THE ICE, YOUR 2 TIME DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, THE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER SNOWBALLS. No way I could ever get used to handling that. I’m nauseous just writing it. Some call us Pios, which sound pretty cool and 4 letters on “whiteboard” or any other sign reads smooth. As for our mascot, I want Boone, either as official or unofficial. Any crap about Boone mask keeping Boone out is hogwash. Does an unofficial Boone need insurance, maybe, and we’ll buy it. Does Boone need Mascot Boot Camp/training; that can be done. Finally, the person wearing the “Boone head/mask” can identify himself or herself to security. I’m fine with Boone as an unofficial mascot forever. School is loser here financially; Boone gear is hot. Women love my Boone scarf. Let’s keep plugging away. Go DU! Pioneers forever!! Bring back Boone!!!
We need to seize this moment and ask for a full reinstatement of Boone, not just a change of the mask policy. There will never be more momentum than right now.
Yes, keep fighting!
I am hearing some encouraging feedback that our messages are getting through to the people who matter, but we’re still very much on the brink.
While some people are getting private assurances that the Pioneer nickname is safe, it is very important to keep pushing. Private assurances are not the same as public statements from the Chancellor and/or Board of Trustees.
And the mask policy has already shown us that the administration can be disingenuous on this topic.
Keep the pressure on. Keep sending your emails to the Board of Trustees – boardoftrustees@du.edu
Not just the 50 states.. it smells all the way to England..
Very upsetting the way it was done especially after all the grief ( and bad publicity) the administration’s last attempt(s) generated trying to kill off the popular and , now of late, apparently ” racist” DU’s near cartoon like mascot.
It really is a big “own goal” by the new Chancellor and co.
I have been a strong supporter of most things ‘DU’ but these apparently sneaky attempts to win an old ‘lost ’cause that was previously “litigated” in public against the administration’s have me (and possibly other alum more than a bit concerned )and reaching for my will..
Thomas,
New Administration & new staff obviously thought they knew better. They were warned.
This time PioNation was ready. Its not over yet, but we have been heard loud & clear.
Sending emails about DU Mask Ban, Pioneer Nickname & Boone are still needed to stick the knife in the heart.
SEND EMAILS TO: alumni@du.edu
Vic Lambadi one of the biggest sports anchors in Denver and the host of the Altitude radio show this morning talked a little about the embarrassment we are dealing with at DU. Not sure he knows the nuances from reading one recent article in the Denver Post… but agrees you have to be nuts to think Pioneer is an offensive name and stupid to ban Boone from campus.
New College Fix article about DU today. Good read, easy for outsiders to understand.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/40786/
Not just the 50 states.. it smells all the way to England..
Very upsetting the way it was done especially after all the grief ( and bad publicity) the administration’s last attempt(s) generated trying to kill off the popular and , now of late, apparently ” racist” DU’s near cartoon like mascot.
It really is a big “own goal” by the new Chancellor and co.
I have been a strong supporter of most things ‘DU’ but these apparently sneaky attempts to win an old ‘lost ’cause that was previously “litigated” in public against the administration’s have me (and possibly other alum more than a bit concerned )and reaching for my will..
Thomas,
New Administration & new staff obviously thought they knew better. They were warned.
This time PioNation was ready. Its not over yet, but we have been heard loud & clear.
Sending emails about DU Mask Ban, Pioneer Nickname & Boone are still needed to stick the knife in the heart.
SEND EMAILS TO: alumni@du.edu
Vic Lambadi one of the biggest sports anchors in Denver and the host of the Altitude radio show this morning talked a little about the embarrassment we are dealing with at DU. Not sure he knows the nuances from reading one recent article in the Denver Post… but agrees you have to be nuts to think Pioneer is an offensive name and stupid to ban Boone from campus.
New College Fix article about DU today. Good read, easy for outsiders to understand.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/40786/