Tree Mascot Fired for Alleged Drunkenness

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — A rowdy Stanford University mascot was fired after being discovered drunk during a basketball game, university officials said.

Fifth-year senior Erin Lashnits, who dresses as a tree for the university’s irreverent band, was stripped of her duties last week after her blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.157 during a men’s basketball game at the University of California, Berkeley. For the purposes of driving a vehicle in California, legally drunk is .08.

Stanford went on to lose the Feb. 9 game 65-62.

The university had previously placed the band on “alcohol suspension,” which requires a zero-tolerance policy toward drunkenness, said band spokesman Sam Urmy. Lashnits was fired to avoid disciplinary penalties from the athletic department, Urmy said.

“We don’t want to risk our core mission of rocking out and bringing funk to the funkless,” Urmy said.

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