<p>Why doesn't Stanford make its mascot the Redwood? Stanford Redwood would be less confusing and more intimidating than Stanford Cardinal. Stanford Trees, the mascot of the marching band, comes across as trying-too-hard to be "green"/modern IMO.</p>
<p>Trees scare off bears very well.</p>
<p>Stanford doesn’t have an official mascot. The Stanford Indian was correctly deemed as an unsuitable mascot in the early 1970’s. In 1973, the student body voted for a new mascot and the majority vote was for “Robber Barons”. Unfortunately, the administration did not agree with the vote and refused to adopt the elected mascot. Instead, the term Cardinal (as in the color not the bird) was substituted and remains in use.</p>
<p>I still have my Stanford Robber Baron T-shirt!</p>