Gather round and let old man Nexus tell you about the time(s) the Waikato Students’ Union almost had a mascot.
EDITORS NOTE : We are pretty sure this is an incomplete history.
Way back before the Pandemic, a life member thought it would be a good idea to suggest that your Students’ Association adopt a mascot and create American-style merchandise for you.
The problem was that the Union couldn’t agree on a single idea. They even had a poll commissioned in 2013, resulting in a wild array of responses. Responses ranged from the X-Men’s Wolverine to an actual Wolverine. The worst suggestion came from the most mature of Mature Students, who suggested we have three “Cool dudes of the WSU” named Walter, Sam, and Ursula.
At the time, Nexus itself was quite vocal that the WSU should be supported by “Mary Jane – The Marijuana Leaf”, but the University threatened to veto.
For a brief period, the WSU even commissioned images of a sadly very 90s-looking “WSU Wasp” even though it was 2014. This may have been based on the Communications Manager of the time trying to pass the “WuTang Killer Bees” as a mascot. The wasp had a bucket hat (pictured).
For what it is worth, the idea of a mascot is still fundamentally stupid, and that perception is in no way helped by the University’s new cow, who is quickly becoming our nemesis here at Nexus.
However, as the mouth-breathers descended on the WSU Facebook page for the singular crime of posting a Tower Insurance Climate Change Scholarship we all found inspiration. For clarity’s sake, it wasn’t over anything anyone else said, but the assertion from this Twitter user that WSU must stand for Woke Stupid Unicorns. It’s genius. It’s no Mary Jane the Marijuana Leaf, but whether it is Woke and Stupid or Waikato Student, shouldn’t we all want the suspension of disbelief for just a little longer? University is a strange and interesting time in your life. Why wouldn’t we all want to be unicorns?
