Springfield College mascot, ‘Spirit,’ hit by dining hall worker, school says

A dining hall worker at Springfield College hit the school’s lion mascot, “Spirit,” who was handing out candy on campus Tuesday morning, according an email from the college’s Department of Public Safety, MassLive initially reported.

Chief Joseph Tiraboschi reportedly wrote in the email, sent around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, that the incident occurred near the Campus Union around 11:30 a.m. He stated an employee of Harvest Table, the school’s dining service, hit Spirit while he was greeting students and giving candy to students.

“We want to make sure you’re all aware of what happened,” Tiraboschi said, according to the Springfield Student. “But also know that, ‘Hey, we don’t tolerate violence.’”

Nobody was injured during the incident, and the employee was removed from campus, Tiraboschi said.

The school’s Department of Public Safety will be working with Harvest Table to investigate the incident.