Doyle Owl
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The Doyle Owl is considered to be an unofficial mascot of Reed College. It is a roughly three-foot high, 300 pound (136 kg), concrete statue of an owl that was originally located atop the Doyle section of the Old Dorm Block. Alternate histories include the owl originating from the yard of a Portland-area resident and being stolen by the residents of Doyle.
The owl was first stolen in 1913 in a dorm war. Another dorm kidnapped nine residents of Doyle, offering to exchange the captives for the owl. This did not work and the "hostages" escaped. The same rival dorm staged a two-hour siege on Doyle, featuring water, mud, and ammonia bombs. Doyle countered by using a firehose but the tradition was born.
Over the years the owl has been stolen countless times. However, an odd feature has accompanied this thievery. Whenever it is stolen, the stealers must flaunt it at a "showing," where elaborate measures are taken to slow and stop the owl from taking flight again. Often the resulting fracas involves the majority of the student body. Pictures of the owl in strange places have become de rigueur; it has been seen in the US at Disneyland, in Seattle, in San Francisco, and in Lincoln, Nebraska. Unsubstantiated rumors also place it in Paris, France, and in Jakarta, Indonesia.
It is reported that the owl was shown in a music video for the band Tears for Fears and was promptly stolen back from the band by Reed students. Other "showings" have included encasing it in ice, covering it in Vaseline while hanging it off the Blue Bridge, setting it on fire (using baking oil) and throwing it out the back of a speeding car. Angel Dawson, a 1983 Reed graduate, devoted her senior thesis to studying the anthropological implications of the Doyle Owl cult-following.
There are rumors that the owl has been destroyed and/or replaced by multiple copies. Since 1913 it has taken quite a battering and the resemblance to an owl now is diminished.
