Debate team lobbies via stickers to have their mascot returned

When former head debate coach Annie Goodson left the school last year, she took the debate team’s mascot — a gray stuffed dog named Brutus — along with her. With the help of stickers featuring the #FreeBrutus hashtag, members of the debate team are lobbying for their mascot to be returned. 

Senior Thomas Babcock, who ordered the first batch of #FreeBrutus stickers, explained why the movement meant so much to him and the team. 

“Brutus was important. He worked as a sort of mascot for the team,” Babcock said. “He was also our good luck charm at tournaments.”

The stickers, along with an aggressive social media campaign on Reddit and Twitter, have been successful in raising awareness for the campaign; one post even garnered a response from Goodson herself. In a tweet responding to the official Free Brutus Twitter account, @Free_Brutus, Goodson said that if the team could win a state championship, Brutus would be returned. 

Babcock is proud of the success the stickers have had in the campaign to win back Brutus. 

“I think [the stickers have helped the cause]. They led to a lot more conversation on the pressing issue,” Babcock said. “We even managed to create a deal with the dognapper that if we win state we can have Brutus back.”

Babcock chose to use stickers for the campaign because of their recent popularity among students due to the arrival of MacBooks. 

“We thought that since we were getting the new MacBooks, it would be a good way to spread the word to the rest of the school,” Babcock said. “[The stickers] would be fun to have on our laptops at tournaments.”