Spirit may be retiring, but the UW administrators hope to facilitate the permanence of school spirit at this university.

The current mascot, an Alaskan Malamute husky named Spirit, will retire at the end of this football season because he recently suffered a shoulder injury that prevents him from performing his duties as a mascot. Spirit has served as a living, breathing embodiment of the UW image since 1999; the 10th live mascot at the UW.

“The pending retirement of Spirit presented the athletic department with the ideal opportunity to make the change, and we knew we wanted to have a way for all Husky fans to participate in the process,” said director of athletic bands Brad McDavid, in a press release on the UW Athletics Web site. Online voting on the Web site is open to students, faculty, staff and alumni. Voters may choose one of eight proposed names, including options such as Admiral, Dubs, King and Sundodger. The poll will close tonight at 9 p.m.

“The contest will solidify where we want to go [with the naming],” said Leslie Wurzberger, associate athletic director of marketing for Intercollegiate Athletics. “The exact name will be revealed at the introduction of the new dog at the Nov. 15 home game.”

Spirit’s retirement is an opportune moment to establish a permanent name for the all live mascots that will represent the UW in the future.

“Fans had better recall of the name of the costumed mascot, Harry, than they did of the live dog even though Harry has been in existence for far less time,” Wurzberger said. “As we looked at other universities with great live mascot traditions such as Georgia, LSU and even USC, a consistent name that was branded over time was something they had in common.”

While Wurzberger laments the lack of recognition for the current mascot, the renaming contest may be lacking recognition.

“I didn’t know about [the renaming and contest],” said senior Stephanie Moon, who said that she would look at the Web site and see if she wants to vote.

In addition to changing the name, other aspects of the mascot tradition may also change. Wurzberger said the administration is trying to establish more student involvement in the handling and training of the new dog. Plans for the program are in the preliminary stages, but ideally would include four to eight students involved in student leadership.

There are also plans to be more proactive in the inclusion of the dog in campus events.

“It’s just one tradition having a nickname and visual representation, a live mascot is very different than a costume, a live mascot is much more symbolic of your institution’s nickname,” Wurzberger said.

To vote, visit gohuskies.cstv.com/ot/2008-mascot-survey.html

Reach reporter Sonia Mcbride at news@dailyuw.com.