Staff report

Wizard the Lizard, the official mascot of Truckee Meadows Community College, has been identified as a gender-neutral mascot.

The TMCC Student Government Association voted to declare Wizard gender-neutral on Wednesday after discussing other colleges and universities that are making their mascots more diverse.

“Having a gender-neutral mascot makes TMCC progressive and inclusive to all gender types,” YeVonne Allen, specialist in TMCC’s Equity and Inclusion Office, said in a news release. “Wizard now promotes this inclusive environment to support our diverse students.”

Instead of using any gendered pronoun to refer to the mascot, TMCC will refer to Wizard as "the lizard," "the mascot" or by name.

Wizard the Lizard became the official mascot of TMCC through a series of SGA votes, beginning in 2013 when a lizard was chosen as the animal. The name “Wizard” and the logo design became finalized following a student vote in 2014, and TMCC purchased the mascot costume for appearances in early 2015.