At Amherst College, Some Say It’s the Mascot’s Turn to Embrace Diversity

The Amherst homecoming game had all the trappings of a classic day at this prestigious liberal arts college: a home team victory, cheering alumni and the scent of charred burgers in the air as sienna leaves flitted toward the ground.

And then there was the moose.

Or, rather, the student in a floppy-antlered moose costume, whose presence at last weekend’s game was a controversial rebuke to Amherst College’s longtime unofficial mascot, Lord Jeff — or Lord Jeffery Amherst, the 18th-century military commander whom this photogenic college town is named for. In recent years, Lord Jeff has fallen out of favor with some students and faculty members because, in 1763, he endorsed giving smallpox-infected blanketsto Native Americans.