Denied Indian mascot, McMurry forgoes nickname

AP ^ | October 16, 2006

[ConservativeStatement]

ABILENE, Texas -- "Go team go!" is how McMurry University fans will be cheering from now on.

After the NCAA rejected McMurry's appeals to keep its Indian mascot, the board of trustees at the private, 1,400-student university dropped the name -- and then decided to forgo a nickname altogether.

"Going to a mascot that has four legs and fur just didn't fit who we are," McMurry President John Russell told The Associated Press on Monday. "To take another mascot would be to turn our back on our 83-year history. We know who we are."

[ConservativeStatement]

The NCAA is looking like the embodiment of jackasses every time one of these stories is released.

[JOAT]

Good for them. I'd still wear Indian gear to the games too if I were a fan.

[Vince Ferrer]

They can have two names, "home" and "visitor."

[Defiant]

They should have a mascot in an Indian costume, and call themselves the Bulldogs.

[knarf]

OK .. I'm ignorant of all the particulars except for the 3 or 4 bits I've heard in the last couple of years on Rush or Beck ... what if the school just said 'no' and kept everything status quo?

I mean, do they lose their colors or something?
NCAA affiliation?

What?

[ThanhPhero]

I guess Indians are like Confederate battle flags, a symbol of horrible repression that should be shoved down the memory hole. Eventually perhaps Indians will disappear altogether from our public schools. They never existed. America was empty in 1491 or perhaps it was populated by benevolent Liberals.

[KarlInOhio]

A local full time drinking establishment and part time college is Miami University. They used to be the Redskins until it was determined that the name was disrespectful to the Native Americans. No one appreciated my point that maybe naming the college for the Miami tribe could similarly be considered disrespectful (especially considering the amount of firewater consumed there) and the who college should find a new name.

[ConservativeStatement]

The NCAA has a policy that bars such member school from hosting championship games, such as North Dakota which has a strong hockey program. Here is additional info: In August 2005, the NCAA Executive Committee implemented a policy against UND and 17 other member schools deemed to use "hostile and abusive" American Indian nicknames, imagery and/or mascots (UND has no mascot). The measure prohibited those schools from hosting NCAA-sponsored championship events or displaying Native American nicknames and imagery at those events.

http://www.uscho.com/news/id,12754/NorthDakotaTakesNCAAToCourtOverSiouxName.html

[Darteaus94025]

At that meeting, the following remarks were overheard:

"Let's kill off all of the Indians once and for all."
"When we're done, no one will able to cheer for any Indian anywhere."
"Get rid of those Redskins."

[MadIvan]

Surely naming a team after a particular tribe honours that tribe by suggesting they possess athletic prowess. It is a suggestion of being mighty, not a racist slur.

Regards, Ivan

[Joe 6-pack]

They should adopt the name "McMurry McMurrays". They could emblazon this logo on the the side of their helmets...

...it would be almost as good as, "The Fighting Whities."

[Ready4Freddy]

Well, there it is... McMurry should elect to be known as the 'NCAA Jackasses'.

[ivy]

I remember seeing a poll a yr or 2 ago that showed more than 80% of American Indians were NOT opposed to Indian type mascots.

It's the elite liberal types who oppose them.

[Billthedrill]

They can have two names, "home" and "visitor."

Nope. Unneccessarily divisive, and insufficiently "diverse." It might lead to the keeping of score as well, which is stressful to the athletes and implies the value judgment that a higher score is better. That is an artifact of the oppressive, patriarchical Western cultures that leads to worldwide social injustice.

Pretty good, huh? I should go to work for the ACLU.

[norton]

"They should have a mascot in an Indian costume, and call themselves the Bulldogs."

Good,
But not extreme enough.

They should formally name themselves:
"The Methodist persons from McMurry University who came here tonight to play football" (or basketball, or soccer if necessary)

Heck, they'd only have to learn one cheer.

Give me a 'T'...give me an 'H'...give me an 'E'..give me a blank space...give me an 'M'...give me another 'E'.....

I do agree with you on keeping the indian costume so long as the foam rubber tomahawks stay at home.

[ConservativeStatement]

Don't forget Dodie:

[Larry Lucido]

JERRY: I thought we'd eat at the Gentle Harvest.

WINONA: Ooh, I love that place, but it's usually so crowded. Can we get a table?

JERRY: Ah, don't worry. I made reser... (catches himself)

WINONA: You made what?

JERRY: I uh, I uh, I arranged for the appropriate accommodation. And then, Knick tickets, floor seats.

WINONA: How did you get these?

JERRY: Got 'em on the street, from a scal... (catches himself again) A uh, one of those guys.

WINONA: What guys?

JERRY: You know, the guys, that uh, they sell the tickets for the sold-out events.

WINONA: Oh.

[sausageseller]

Miles Brand at work!

[L.N. Smithee]

That's GREAT! You should contact a McMurry conservative group (if there is one) and open a CafePress site!