The University of San Francisco is saying goodbye to the Don. The school announced Friday, Oct. 30, that it will retire its Don Francisco mascot and introduce a wolf for athletic events, games and campus activities starting in spring 2027.
Why a wolf
USF says the choice comes from its Jesuit roots. Wolves appear in the coat of arms of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, and a bronze sculpture of those wolves, Los Lobos de Loyola, stands in front of Gleeson Library on campus. “Ignatius was a Spanish nobleman or ‘Don’ before he pursued religious life,” said Kevin F. Burke, S.J., USF's vice president of mission and Ignatian imagination, who is overseeing the change.
“With new leadership at USF and in Dons Athletics, we believe the time is right to revitalize our image and embrace a new mascot,” President Salvador Aceves said.
The Dons name stays
USF will keep the “Dons” nickname, which it has used since 1932. It will phase out references to Don Francisco, the character based on Francisco de Haro, the first mayor of Yerba Buena, SFist reported. The design for the wolf is still in the works.
How we got here
USF's student senate passed a resolution in 2022 calling for the mascot to be retired. Students argued that the figure evoked Spanish colonization of California's Indigenous people, and a petition backing the resolution drew more than 400 signatures, SFist reported. A working group of students, alumni, faculty and staff found broad support for keeping the Dons name but not the character, according to the university. The Don Francisco character is already no longer used at USF Athletics events.