The Edinburgh University Student’s Association (EUSA) unveiled its new mascot, a Moose named “Dusty” on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.
“Edinburgh University Student’s Association is thrilled it’s new and very, very furry mascot: Dusty!” read the EUSA press release.
The design of Dusty debuted on EUSA’s social media accounts alongside the hashtag “DoItForTheMoose”, the slogan for the mascot and the Students Association.
While Edinburgh University has no official mascot, Dusty serves as the mascot for EUSA exclusively.
“Get involved with your Students’ Association and you won’t look back!” was the statement published alongside Dusty on the EUSA website.
The surprising news has been met with enthusiasm, intrigue, and confusion by students.
“They look friendly and pleasant,” said second-year history student, though he is “already a fan of mosses”.
Not everyone reacted positively to Dusty’s introduction.
“I think it’s a weird choice for the University of Edinburgh,” said a third-year student, who found the choice of “an animal mascot that doesn’t inhabit Scotland” to be strange. They would have preferred a red deer and commented that the mascot’s design made it look “corporate”.
In EUSA’s press release on Dusty, it says that a moose has actually been the Student Association mascot for years, but has been out of use in the past 5 years.
A moose has been the mascot for the Student’s Association to emulate the head of a moose that was hung in Teviot Row House, the Student’s Union building currently close for renovations.
The moose head in Teviot was presented as a gift to the University by Duncan McCallum Stewart in 1925 and remained a fixture of Teviot since.
EUSA president Dora Herndon said to The Student that EUSA “felt this was a great time to bring our mascot back and took the chance to develop Dusty’s character more!”
So far Dusty has been active in promoting Welcome Week events through a guide that was published on the EUSA website.
Students were encouraged to take selfies with Dusty and caption them with #DoItForTheMoose to win prizes.
Dusty was illustrated by local Edinburgh artists and designer Kate George.
Image by Andrew Perry via Edinburgh University Student’s Association