Doyle Owl: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Unofficial mascot of Reed College}}

{{Unreferenced|date=April 2007}}

[[ImageFile:Owl,Reed-students-doyle,1913-owl.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Yearbook[[Reed PictureCollege]] forstudents thewith Doyle Owl., {{Circa|1920}}]]

The '''Doyle Owl''', isor considered''Strigidus tocementus,'' beaccording an''The New (Olde) Reed Almanac,'' "is the unofficial mascot of [[Reed College]] (the official mascot being the [[griffin]])".<ref>{{FactCite web |title=The New (Olde) Reed Almanac |url=http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/december2011/articles/features/almanac/almanac3.html |access-date=April2024-05-02 2007|website=Reed Magazine}}. </ref> It is a concrete statue of an [[owl]], roughly three-foot high, and 300 &nbsp;pound (136 &nbsp;kg), concrete statue of an [[owl]] that originally occupied the lawn of a Portland resident.<ref name="admissions site">[http://web.reed.edu/apply/about_reed/doyleowl.html Reed College Admissions website describing the Doyle Owl]</ref>. One{{webarchive night in [[1913]], the owl was stolen from the lawn by residents of the Doyle dormitory, part of Reed's Old Dorm Block|url=https://web. The owl was promptly hoisted atop the dorm building, where it drew the attention and envy of neighboring dormsarchive. According to the 2006-2007 Student Body Handbook, however, the Doyle owl may have originated as an ornament atop the Doyle dorm, from which it was removed as a "dorm memento"org/web/20070622183126/http://web.reed.<ref>Allen,edu/apply/about_reed/doyleowl.html Charlie,|date=June "Reed Facts & Myths"22, Reed2007 College Student Body Handbook, (2006), Reed College.}}</ref>

==History==

The owl was first stolen in a [[1913]] 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.<ref name="admissions site"/>

One night in 1913, the Owl was stolen from the lawn by residents of the Doyle dormitory, part of Reed's Old Dorm Block. The Owl was promptly hoisted atop the dorm building, where it drew the attention and envy of neighboring dorms. According to the 2006&ndash;2007 Student Body Handbook, however, the Doyle Owl may have originated as an ornament atop the Doyle dorm, from which it was removed as a "dorm memento".<ref>Allen, Charlie, "Reed Facts & Myths", ''Reed College Student Body Handbook'', (2006), Reed College.</ref>[[File:DoyleOwl.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|The Doyle Owl in 1996|left]]The Owl was first stolen in a 1913 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 had been born.<ref name="admissions site" /> Over the years the Owl has been stolen countless times.<ref name="admissions site" />

Over the years the owl has been stolen countless times<ref name="admissions site"/>. However, anAn odd featureritual has accompanied this thievery. Whenever it is stolen, the stealersthieves must flaunt it at a "showing," where elaborate measures are taken to slowdisplay andthe stopOwl while reducing the owlodds fromof takingit flightbeing again.re-stolen by Oftena thenew group. The resulting fracasbrawl often involves the majority of the student body. Pictures[[File:Doyle ofOwl theand owlStudents in2019.jpg|thumb|upright=.6|Reed strangeCollege placesstudents haveand becomeDoyle ''deOwl, rigueur'';Spring it2019]]The hasOwl beenappeared seenhidden in the [[Unitedgrass States|US]]in atthe "[[DisneylandSowing the Seeds of Love]]," inmusic video for the band [[Seattle,Tears Washington|Seattlefor Fears]], inafter [[Sanvideo Francisco,editor California|SanMike Francisco]],Quinn andtold inDirector [[Lincoln,Jim NebraskaBlashfield]]<ref name="admissionsabout site"/>.the Doyle TheOwl tradition at Reed, Officewhere ofhis Admissionsyounger feedsbrother thewas aira ofstudent. mythOther surrounding"showings" thehave owl,included withencasing itsit websitein claimingice, owlcovering sightingsit in [[ParisVaseline]], while hanging it off the [[FranceBlue Bridge (Oregon)|Blue Bridge]], setting it on fire (using baking oil) and throwing it out the back of a speeding car. In 2014, the Doyle Owl was rumored to have been inside a snowball 40-inches in [[Jakarta]]diameter. But when maintenance workers cut through the snowball, ''[[IndonesiaThe Oregonian]]'' reported, "The Doyle Owl was nowhere to be found."<ref>{{Cite namenews |last="admissionsKavanaugh site"|first=Shane Dixon |date=2014-02-14 |title=Massive snowball wreaks havoc on Reed College |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/weather/2014/02/massive_snowball_wreaks_havoc.html |access-date=2024-05-02 |work=[[The Oregonian]]}}</ref>

[[File:DoyleOwl 2022.jpg|thumb|Student with the Doyle Owl, 2022]]

It is reported that the owl was shown in a music video for the band [[Tears for Fears]]<ref name="admissions site"/> 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 (Oregon)|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.<ref>Dawson, Angel Dawn Angelina, "The Doyle Owl: A Study of Ritual at Reed" (1983), Reed College.</ref>

Temporary possessors of the Owl also traditionally take pictures of themselves next to it, to prove their possession, and pictures of the Owl in strange places and with unusual people have become ''de rigueur.'' It has been seen in the United States at [[Disneyland]], in [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]], in [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], and in [[Lincoln, Nebraska]].<ref name="admissions site" /> The Owl has been pictured in the company of [[Steve Jobs]] and [[Dr. Demento]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Sacred Owl (From the Reed College Handbook) |url=https://douglassquirrel.com/doyle/art.html |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=douglassquirrel.com}}</ref> The Reed Office of Admissions feeds the air of myth surrounding the Owl, with its website claiming Owl sightings in [[Paris]], [[France]], and in [[Jakarta]], [[Indonesia]].<ref name="admissions site" /> ''The Oregonian'' reported, "three-foot tall bird has been spotted on the Eiffel Tower; taking in the sights of New York City and visiting the shark tank at Sea World in San Diego".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Trappen |first=Michelle |date=27 Sep 1992 |title=Pranks that Rank: [Fourth Edition] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/416578994 |journal=The Oregonian |page=L10 |id={{ProQuest|416578994}} |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 1, 2024 |quote=At Reed College, for instance, a concrete creature known as the Doyle Owl often has hogged headlines for its alleged worldwide travels. [Neil Steinberg] reports the 300-pound, three-foot tall bird has been spotted on the Eiffel Tower; taking in the sights of New York City and visiting the shark tank at Sea World in San Diego. The owl even made a cameo appearance in a video, "Sowing in the Seeds of Love," by the rock group Tears for Fears. }}</ref>

[[File:Audrey Bilger with Doyle Owl.jpg|thumb|Reed president [[Audrey Bilger]] with the Doyle Owl after it was taken by Community Safety Officers in the spring of 2024. The owl was quickly repainted by students.]]

The Doyle Owl is listed in the ''[[Dictionary of American Slang]]'' as meaning, "both hideously ugly and extremely desirable".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The\ Doyle\ Owl |url=https://amslang.en-academic.com/10183/The__Doyle__Owl |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias |language=en}}</ref>

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==

*[https://rdc.reed.edu/i/d6941df0-f997-4370-a078-b4c5a2017153 The Doyle Owl: a Study of Ritual at Reed] (Thesis, A.D.A. Dawson, 1983)

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081120004036/http://www.mlhp.net/alum/doyleowl.html Alumnus tells of his encounter with a Doyle Owl "showing."]

*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmdMVk7GwsI Doyle Owl video from May 2003]

*[httphttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEDdyTB_H80 March 2007 video of Reed students surfing on theCmdMVk7GwsI Doyle Owl as it is towedvideo behindfrom aMay truck2003]

*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEDdyTB_H80 March 2007 video of Reed students surfing on the Doyle Owl as it is towed behind a truck]

{{Reed College}}

{{Authority control}}

==References==

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle Owl}}

[[Category:College mascots]]

[[Category:FictionalReed owlsCollege]]

[[Category:Sculptures of birds in Oregon]]

[[Category:CollegeSculptures mascotsof owls]]