Despite a vote to change the mascot’s name, it might be premature to say chef Temoc’s goose is cooked.
At an Aug. 18 Student Government (SG) meeting, Vice President for Student Affairs Darrelene Rachavong announced that UTD President David Daniel would be seeking more student input before officially casting aside the current mascot name, “Temoc,” for “Scorch,” which was selected in a spring 2009 online poll. He believes that the mascot revision process inspired new affection for the old mascot, she said.
In a show of hands, SG meeting attendees almost unanimously supported retaining Temoc as the mascot.
SG selected “Temoc” from a list of options in 2002 after a copyright dispute arose over the previous mascot moniker “Blaze.”
Rachavong chaired the mascot committee that conducted several rounds of polling during the 2008-09 academic year to gauge interest in mascot revision and track UTD community members’ preferences.
The spring 2009 mascot name ballot included “Scorch,” “Force,” “Striker” and “Crusher,” along with a write-in option.
“Temoc” made a strong showing as a write in, receiving 403 of the roughly 3,000 electronic votes cast by students, faculty, staff and alumni, but was burnt by “Scorch,” which won with 1,248 votes.