We all know the story of the beloved pachyderm that serves as Tufts University's mascot. P.T. Barnum, a trustee and benefactor of Tufts, owned this 12-foot tall, six-ton African elephant, which was captured as a baby in Abyssinia in 1861.
The elephant was sold and moved to Paris and London, at which point Barnum purchased him for $10,000 and transported him to America. He was named Jumbo, synonymous with "huge," and toured with the Barnum & Bailey circus for a few years, until he was tragically killed by an oncoming train in Canada in 1885.
However, this was only after showing great heroism in shoving a fellow, smaller elephant, Tom Thumb, out of the way to save his life, and embracing his adored trainer in his gigantic trunk before dying.
The story of Jumbo's afterlife isn't much cheerier than that of his demise. After his stuffed hide was donated to Tufts in 1889, he served as our lucky mascot, displayed in the Barnum Museum of Natural History, with students tugging on his tail and sticking coins in his trunk before important athletic events. But in 1975, the Barnum building caught on fire and destroyed the only remains of Jumbo.
Today, just his ashes remain in a peanut butter jar and stand as our good luck charm. Jumbo's energy is unquestionably felt in the Medford air and on the Hill, but the mascot is also ... shall we say, unique.
"Prospective students usually think it's weird that our mascot was hit by a train, but they definitely like the elephant," sophomore and tour guide Jeff Vanderkruik said.
So how do current Tufts students perceive Jumbo today? Is everyone happy with having a gentle, herbivorous mammal as our supposed "tough" mascot? While other schools such as University of Michigan, have ferocious, carnivorous wolverines, we have a mammoth elephant, which wasn't even fast enough to get out of the way of an oncoming train.
Our rivals may taunt us for shouting out the name of such a tender creature at football and lacrosse games, but perhaps they fail to realize the heart behind that big ol' elephant. The Daily spoke to members of the student body to find out what they think about having Jumbo the pachyderm represent Tufts.
