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ESF’s Oakie the Acorn Enters the Sweet 16 in SUNY’s Mascot Madness
Oakie the Acorn, the mascot from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), has advanced to the second round in SUNY's Mascot Madness where they will take on Roody Roo from SUNY Canton.
Mascot Madness is a social media-driven, NCAA bracket-style competition between SUNY campuses to name New York's favorite mascot. Voting in the Sweet 16 begins today, Monday, March 28, at noon.
Oakie, the 2017 Mascot Madness champion, is one of 32 SUNY mascots competing in SUNY's 10th Annual Mascot Madness that began last week. Oakie defeated local mascot Blaze from Onondaga Community College in a close race in last week's opening round.
The competition includes five rounds of voting and runs through April 14. People can vote for Oakie once every 24 hours. Oakie's fans are encouraged to cast ballots from all their email accounts but are limited to one vote per day. In order for a vote to count, people must verify it via an active email address. Additional votes will be able to be cast on Twitter. In the semifinals and finals, Instagram will also be used to generate votes.
The winning college will take home the traveling Mascot Madness trophy from SUNY. Last year, Oakie fell to SUNY Oneonta's Red the Dragon in the first round.
Oakie currently represents 12 men's and women's teams in ESF's athletics program, including national championship teams in women's and men's cross country and women's soccer.
Follow Oakie on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Get to Know Oakie from Their Mascot Madness Interview
Who are you and who do you represent? I am Oakie the Acorn (pronouns they/their), the proud mascot of ESF's Mighty Oaks athletic teams and campus supporter of everything our students do — whether they are on the playing field or out doing fieldwork. I am their biggest fan!
What's your favorite place on campus? I love to hang out in our Gateway Center with the students. I catch up on all the campus news, grab a bite at the Trailhead Cafe and sometimes help with dendrology homework. I also like to visit the College's Roosevelt Wild Life Collection on the lower level of the Gateway – it's a great place to learn about conservation efforts past and present.
What's your favorite place or thing to do off-campus? Syracuse has so many amazing places to go, that I don't know if I can choose a favorite, but I do like to stroll through historic Oakwood Cemetery, which borders campus. Not only is there amazing history to learn there, the trees and wildlife make you forget that you are in the middle of a city. So soothing!
What's your favorite movie/tv show/special that you streamed last year? My favorite movie – no cap – is The Lorax! I stream it constantly. That part where the Lorax proclaims, "I am the Lorax and I speak for the trees!" – it gives me chills every time. And the powerful use of the word "Unless?" Again, chills. Of course, like so many movies, the book is better, but I do find the additional subplots amusing.
What's your favorite comfort food to get through a cold winter? A big stack of pancakes smothered in maple syrup produced in ESF's Heiberg Forest! There's nothing sweeter than ESF syrup!
With SUNY offering convenient new learning options through microcredentials, what's a new skill or competency you'd like to develop? Basic Beekeeping from SUNY Cobleskill. Our pollinators are so important to a healthy ecosystem that I would be honored to play a part in keeping them healthy and thriving!
Where would you like to retire when your mascot days are over? Retire? I am never leaving ESF! There's nothing better than representing ESF students – I'd have to be totally nuts to give this up!
How would you celebrate a SUNY Mascot Madness championship? The same way I celebrated my 2017 victory – surrounded by the students, staff, faculty and alumni of ESF who voted for me – and enjoying some cake!