UPDATE, April 1, 2025:

Not so fast! The College of the Redwoods Board of Trustees today has decided to pump the brakes this proposed mascot change. At today’s meeting, the board decided to get more community input before swapping Corsairs for Wolves, the Times-Standard reports.

Trustee Lorraine Pedrotti, who represents a region that largely overlaps the parts of Humboldt County represented by Supervisor Rex Bohn, voiced concern about changing something that’s been around for so long, though CR President Keith Flamer said a task force already solicited community feedback, according to reporter Robert Schaulis. 

Flamer also suggested that controversy may be inevitable in the current political climate, when jettisoning a mascot for its associations with slavery may strike some as “DEI-like,” potentially inviting political retribution.

###

Bad news for fans of 15th Century Mediterranean sea bandits: College of the Redwoods plans to abandon its current mascot, the Corsairs, in favor of something a bit more locally relevant and a bit less freighted with historical baggage: the Wolves.

CR’s previous logo. | Via CR.

On Tuesday, the community college’s Board of Trustees is scheduled to approve the mascot swap as one of numerous items on the consent agenda. 

“The Corsairs mascot is being retired due to its problematic historical associations,” a staff report explains. “Corsairs were involved in the African and European slave trade and continuing to use this mascot does not align with the College’s commitment to fostering a welcoming environment for all students and community members. “

CR formed a “Mascot Development Task Force” to explore new options, soliciting input from the community and from the Wiyot Tribe. The process yielded three finalists: the Condors, the Wolves and the Krakens. 

The Wolves got the task force nod “because of the wolf’s close connection with the Wiyot culture and to the unceded territory upon which the Eureka Campus occupies,” the staff report notes. CR President Keith Flamer agreed with the recommendation. The Times-Standard first reported on the proposed mascot swap on Saturday.

Another point of lupinus connection: In 2022, the Wiyot Tribe celebrated the purchase of a 46-acre coastal property near present-day King Salmon, at the base of Humboldt Hill, known by the Tribe as Mouralherwaqh or “wolf’s house.”  CORRECTION: The area known in Wiyot stories as “Wolf’s House” was closer to the CR campus — hence the recommendation.]

What do you think of the (proposed) new mascot? Would you have gone for the Condors or the Krakens instead? Head on over to LoCO Pollz to weigh in.