I’m a little slow, I know, but I still don’t understand why RPI has so many symbols. When I read The Poly, I learn about the “Engineers” winning games in one article and the “Red Hawks” defeating rivals in another. At hockey games, we see Puckman rally the crowd, not an Engineer or a Red Hawk, but on campus everyone seems to talk more about the albino squirrel. I mean, I can see why the “Swarm” didn’t last as a mascot, but we really must decide on a single mascot to represent the entire school.

I propose that The Poly lead the effort by exclusively referring to RPI students and teams as Red Hawks. The reasoning is simple: not all RPI students are engineers (hard to believe, but true!), Puckman would look even more stupid on the football sideline than it does on the ice, and the albino squirrel might not live forever. Go Red Hawks!

J. S. Rouleau