All WSU campuses will now be able to create a mascot that represents the spirit and character of that location.

This includes WSU Vancouver, Tri-Cities, Everett, Spokane, Global Campus and the Graduate and Professional Students Association.

Jordan Frost, ASWSU Pullman president, said there have been issues with mascot representation for years following a Butch incident at the WSU Vancouver campus.

ASWSU Vancouver President Jose Scott said this incident happened during a Week of Welcome event a few years ago. WSU Vancouver had planned on using its own Butch mascot when the WSU Pullman Butch appeared as well. Scott said the legend goes that one of the mascots had to stay on the bus for the entire event.

“After that event, our students have been very steadfast and advocating for having a Butch on our campus,” Scott said.

Frost said Butch is not the WSU mascot, which is a common misconception — Butch is instead the WSU Athletics mascot.

Frost said it will be the responsibility of each campus to work with the company Athletics hires to create their mascot designs. Each campus must show Athletics its design to make sure it does not look like the current Butch.

Scott believes this new mascot will help promote a unified WSU environment and believes that all campuses need a stronger form of connection. Having a campus Butch will foster student identity and community, Scott said.

“We have the name, but that is not enough,” he said. “Our students come here because they want to be a Coug. A mascot is the most tangible connection to that identity.”

WSU Vancouver hopes to have their mascot ready by next fall’s Week of Welcome. Scott said they are currently working on determining which groups will help pay for this mascot and where the costume will be stored.