[oldalum]

When I was an undergraduate at Stanford there was a campus wide vote on naming a new mascot  

This same anti-establishment counter-culture crowd would have Stanford adopt "Robber Barons" as its mascot.  No, thank you.

IIRC there were two votes. Robber Barons won the first vote, but the administration rendered that result nugatory. Perhaps today with the rise of the mega-billionaires it would have renewed appeal.
On the second vote, with Robber Barons not available as a choice, Trees and Sequoias split the "tree" vote and no one won (I voted for Sequoias). after that the effort to designate a new mascot died and the color Cardinal came into use.

[oldalum]

When I was an undergraduate at Stanford there was a campus wide vote on naming a new mascot  

This same anti-establishment counter-culture crowd would have Stanford adopt "Robber Barons" as its mascot.  No, thank you.

IIRC there were two votes. Robber Barons won the first vote, but the administration rendered that result nugatory. Perhaps today with the rise of the mega-billionaires it would have renewed appeal.
On the second vote, with Robber Barons not available as a choice, Trees and Sequoias split the "tree" vote and no one won (I voted for Sequoias). after that the effort to designate a new mascot died and the color Cardinal came into use.