At 12 p.m. on Monday, members of the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) marched into White Plaza with the soon-to-be headless “Oski.” The crowd, dressed in all black for the funeral, gathered to watch the annual “Bearial” of Oski the Bear, the University of California, Berkeley’s mascot.
Jack “Spokez” Moreland ’27 stood tall, delivering Oski’s annual eulogy, which was anything but mournful. Moreland attributed Oski’s death to “a tragic Tylenol overdose,” and instructed the audience to boo loudly for the late Berkeley mascot. On their cue, the band sang Berkeley’s “Oksi Yell,” but with less favorable lyrics: “So take your dirty golden bear and shove him up your ass.”
Moreland wrote to The Daily “we pretty much wrote up a script and tried to strike the balance between funny and hating Cal,” referring to the eulogy.
Drum major Matthew Martinez ’26 first ripped the head off the bear, then summited the fountain, as students chanted “In five more days, we take the axe!” Oski’s stuffing spread across the waters, which later turned red.
This was a moment Blue Kennedy ’29 had been eagerly waiting for.
“I [had] heard the water turns red, which is quite a feat of engineering,” Kennedy said. “Starting off Big Game with a silly, unserious, rivalry-centered event is perfect. All of Big Game week is really centered around fun.”
Her friend, Melita D’Souza ’29, who writes for The Daily, agreed. “I think this really increases school spirit … Big Game week activities bring everyone together,” D’Souza said.
Longtime band member and coterminal student Megan Hyatt ’22 M.S. ’26 discussed the elaborate process the band takes in publicly executing the stuffed bear.
“We started out with this big plan to take the bear and stab it,” Hyatt said. “We get a bear, fill it with blood, and the drum major rips the head off and stabs it on the top of the claw.”
Although the ceremony takes shape as a funeral procession, Hyatt said the band approaches it with the opposite sentiment. “We all prepare by pretending to mourn, because we obviously don’t give a shit about Oski,” she said with a smile. “Everyone loves to have a common enemy … especially when it’s a terrible soul like Oski.”
When asked if she had a message for Berkeley, Hyatt didn’t hesitate, saying “You should be scared, we’re taking the Axe.” The Axe is the trophy the winner of Big Game receives every year.
Tree 47 also offered a eulogy of its own for the fallen rival mascot: “Oski was weirdly creepy but not in an interesting way, and the dripping water out of his eye is a little excessive.”
Band director Russ Gavin described the event as a “parody in all the ways,” stating “It’s a fun rivalry, and this is part of the fun.” Gavin said he hopes “we can all stay kind and generous and realize we’re all lucky to be a part of either of the schools.”
One aspect of this parody was Oski’s coffin, created by the band, labeled “Here lies a poor pathetic fool.”
When Martinez raised Oski’s severed head above the claw, and the band played a triumphant tune, the message to Berkley was clear: watch out. This year’s Bearial set the tone not only for the Big Game, but for a week full of Stanford spirit.
Snehal Naik, Senior Director of the Office of Student Engagement, called the event “an incredibly somber moment where we have to honor and pay tributes to Oski the Bear … and as we prepare for Big Game, we want to remember the excitement around bringing the Axe home and keeping the Axe at Stanford.”