AMHERST - Having stood up bravely to the British more than 200 years ago, the Minuteman is finding he may be no match for 21st century political correctness and marketing savvy at the University of Massachusetts.
By September, the UMass Gray Wolves men's and women's teams may be charging onto the field, while the gun-toting, single-gender Minuteman - a UMass symbol since 1972 - is sent to the showers for good.
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Not since the arrow was removed from the pilgrim's hat on the Turnpike signs has such a debate raged over how the Colonial period is being portrayed in modern Massachusetts.
"Am I for the change? I'm for the process," UMass Athletic Director Ian J. McCaw said. That process began with the hiring of Phoenix Design Works of New York City, which introduced the Gray Wolves to eight focus groups involving 85 people.
The passion of the debate has not matched the levels reached in 1972, when the Minutemen nickname replaced the ethnically controversial Redmen name.
"Gray Wolves would be unique in Division I college sports, and it's indigenous to the area," McCaw said. "The design company expressed some concern with the single-gender ethnicity of the Minuteman, and the fact he's carrying a firearm (in the logo) is also a concern."
McCaw said social and practical reasons exist for change. For one thing, the women's teams are called the Minutewomen, even though no colonial Minutewomen ever actually existed.
McCaw said the design experts are looking into using two different Gray Wolves logos. One would reflect an aggressive, ferocious animal, suitable for the competitive sports.
The other could be a more child-friendly and marketable animal mascot, which are very popular in sports.
According to Springfield Republican outdoors writer Frank Sousa, however, the portrayal of a cuddly wolf is ridiculous.
"Wolves attack only the sick, injured and helpless," said Sousa, one of the region's foremost outdoors spokesmen.
"Besides, the last gray wolf sighting around here was in the late 1890s, in a barrel outside Thompson's Clothing Store in Amherst after being shot in Northampton," Sousa said. "And those were skinned."
UMass is the nation's only college that calls its teams the Minutemen. Locally, changes have been made at Springfield College (Chiefs to Pride), Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (Mohawks to Trailblazers) and a high school, Frontier Regional in South Deerfield (Redskins to Redhawks).
The Minuteman may be the next to go.
"Nobody wants something that looks too much like the UConn Husky," Krohn said. "But whatever they pick, I'm sure some people won't like it."
