Western Washington University may get rid of its Viking mascot, Victor E. Viking, because...well, you know.  The school is currently conducting an investigation to help it make a final decision on the issue.  The writing may be on the wall, though, as Viking Union, a building on the school's campus, has already been renamed, per the recommendations of a "strong majority" of the university's Legacy Review Task Force.  

The LRTF had issued a statement saying: "The Task Force was concerned about the harm caused by asking all members of the Western community to identify with a figure that is potentially exclusive on the basis of both ethnicity and gender. Furthermore, the Task Force found names idolizing conquest as out of line with the university's contemporary values around honoring local Indigenous communities. Task Force members who did not recommend renaming in this report proposed the building name be evaluated alongside the mascot by a separate committee."

This is not the first time that WWU has considered changing its mascot.  A 2015 effort to vanquish Victor claimed that the Viking mascot was "hyper-masculine" and "aggressive."

This decal has now disappeared from the website of the WWU bookstore.

This came as no surprise to me.  I previously wrote that it is surprising to me that the cancel culture clowns haven't already insisted that the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings change the team nickname and mascot.  Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians and the NFL's Washington Redskins both were forced to jettison their longtime names within the past year or two.

If "Victor E. Viking" is dispensed with, perhaps Pat E. Polygender will replace him.

For his sake, let's hope there is a "sanctuary city" somewhere for discarded misfit mascots.  And those who loved them.

Thomas Lifson adds:

Apparently, a team mascot can be both demeaning (Redskins, Indians) and celebratory (a Viking is "exclusive on the basis of ethnicity and gender.")   Schrödinger's mascot?