The University of San Francisco is retiring its longtime mascot, “The Don,” a costumed figure with a pencil-thin mustache and a green Spanish-style hat that has appeared at USF sporting events since 1932. The change takes effect at the start of the spring 2027 semester.
The mascot traces its name back to Don Francisco de Haro, the first mayor of Yerba Buena, the settlement that became San Francisco. “Don” is a Spanish honorific signifying noble birth. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, some students argued the figure evokes the history of Spanish colonization of California’s Indigenous people.
A petition calling for the mascot’s removal gathered fewer than 400 signatures before the university decided to act.
USF will replace The Don with a wolf. The school’s athletic teams will keep the “Dons” nickname, so the change applies only to the costumed mascot itself, not the team name.
USF President Salvador Aceves explained the decision in a statement issued Friday.
“With new leadership at USF and in Dons Athletics, we believe the time is right to revitalize our image and embrace a new mascot, one that is known for its intelligence, endurance and ability to work cooperatively in its pack,” Aceves said. “At the same time, we will proudly remain the University of San Francisco Dons.”
The move ends nearly a century of tradition tied to the mascot and has drawn criticism from people who see it as another instance of a university bowing to a small but vocal group of objectors rather than the broader student body or alumni.
