Students at the University of San Francisco will see a new mascot on campus starting next spring. On Friday, school officials announced their intentions to retire the Don, bringing an end to his 90-year-run. His successor? A wolf.As the Chronicle reports, the "Don" image that's been integral to USF' s athletics for nearly a century has fallen out of favor in the modern world. Described as "a masked man with a green Spanish-style hat and pencil mustache," the mascot's origins trace back to Don Francisco de Haro: the first mayor of Yerba Buena, which ultimately became San Francisco. While "Don" is a Spanish honorific denoting noble origin, the Chronicle reports that students have begun to feel the phrase — and the figure it celebrates — shares too much in common with the history of Spanish colonization suffered by California’s Indigenous people. Thus, starting with USF's spring 2027 semester, the Don will retire to make way for a wolf. In a statement issued Friday, USF President Salvador Aceves offered some context for the private Jesuit institution’s new mascot choice.“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 change has been years in the making, given USF’s student government passed a resolution calling on the university to replace the Don with a more appropriate mascot back in 2022. Per the Chronicle, a petition supporting the resolution was subsequently signed by more than 400 students. It called on administrators to implement a new mascot by the start of the 2024-25 academic year.Leading to this week's decision, USF had already begun to embrace wolf imagery on campus. Per the Chronicle, large bronze statues of “Los Lobos de Loyola” — the 15th century coat of arms of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits — now proudly sit in front of Gleeson Library on campus.While the exact design for USF's new wolf remains "in the works," the university stated it intends to “engage the community” to determine the specifics of the costume.Related: Valkyries ‘Egg’ Hatches, Out Comes Their New Muppet-Like Mascot Violet ...read more read less