University of Maryland Takes Down "Red Army" Signs at Comcast Centre After Complaints by Alumni

University of Maryland ^ | January 26, 2004 | Evan Millar

[Bobby Chang]

Officials surrender 'Red Army' Athletic Dept. backs off controversial student section name after complaints By Evan Millar Senior staff writer

The "Red Army" nickname for the Comcast Center student section was selected from more than 500 entries submitted to a committee as part of a university contest.

CHRIS LAUBER--THE DIAMONDBACK

Athletic department officials stopped publicly endorsing "The Red Army" as the nickname for Comcast Center's student section last week after alumni complained the title disrespected soldiers killed by troops of the same name, a department official said.

The two large "Red Army" signs atop the student wall were taken down before the Terrapin men's basketball team's loss Wednesday to Duke, one home game after the name debuted during the team's Jan. 14 victory over North Carolina. "The Red Army" moniker - also the name of Soviet Union troops that stood 11 million strong by World War II - was chosen by students and a university committee during a two-month entry and voting process in the fall.

"We had a number of alumni and fans who contacted us and thought as if it was too closely tied to the foreign military regime," said Associate Athletics Director Michael Lipitz, citing emotional e-mails from fans who lost loved ones to Soviet soldiers. "It was more personal for them. We thought it better to at least remove the name from the facility and not officially sanction it in that way."

The department may replace the signs with ones that read "Terps," but there will be no other naming contest.

Students and department officials were originally excited about the name, as was ESPN analyst Dick Vitale, who called the games against North Carolina and Duke. Students received "Red Army" T-shirts and seemed to embrace the name, some holding up signs that said, "Enlist me in The Red Army."

"The Red Army" was one of more than 500 entries submitted to a committee before Nov. 13 as part of a university contest. The committee, which included men's coach Gary Williams and women's basketball coach Brenda Frese, narrowed the list to six choices and put the choices to a student vote. "The Red Army" received the most votes by the Nov. 29 deadline.

Of the six finalists, three had names relating to war: "The Red Army," "Shell Shockers" and "Testudo's Troops."

"Current students don't have that same frame of reference," Lipitz said. "And there was certainly no intent, I don't think, on the part of students in choosing that name to offend anyone, and we communicated that to people. But at the same time, I think you can understand [the complaints]."

The other three finalists were "The Red Sea," "Brick City" and "Red City."

Lipitz, who was also part of the committee, said students are free to wear the shirts and call themselves "The Red Army," even though the name will not appear on signs inside the arena.

"Students seem to really like the name," Lipitz said. "Students voted for it and supported it, so we're not going to do anything different. We just wanted to be considerate."

Money to buy the shirts and signs came from the department's annual marketing budget and is not state money. The cost for the items "was minimal," Lipitz said.

The student who submitted the winning name will still receive his prizes, including autographed basketballs and tickets for a luxury suite for one game.

[Bobby Chang]

I cannot believe how students voted to endorse a Soviet-era name of a group which killed Americans. It is the same as students voting to name an area for a Palestinian or Iraqi homicide bomber or naming their areas of support for Usama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein.

Having signs of Uncle Sam wanting people to join the USSR is a disgust. Endoring them is utterly wrong.

[ForOurFuture]

I cannot believe how students voted to endorse a Soviet-era name of a group which killed Americans.

They're college kids who thought the name sounded cool. Half of them probably had no idea what it stood for in real life. Lighten up.

[John Beresford Tipton]

"disrespected soldiers killed by troops of the same name, a department official said"

It was a dumb name, but to which war was he referring?
The Soviet Union was a US ally in World War II.

[Modernman]

They're college kids who thought the name sounded cool. Half of them probably had no idea what it stood for in real life. Lighten up.

I had a Red Army hockey jersey. They're quite popular with hockey players since a good number of the great Russian players in the NHL used to play for the Red Army hockey team.

[Moose4]

I would guess the people might be either German immigrant families who had relatives serving on the Eastern Front or had family in eastern Germany during WWII, or immigrants from former Soviet Bloc countries who lived under the heel of the USSR for forty-five years.

Yeah, I can see where they might not appreciate those signs.

}:-)4