NCAA - Marquette University
Marquette U. Trustees Announce New Nickname
Selection Process
Reaffirm position not to reinstate Warriors nickname
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Marquette U. |
Milwaukee — Marquette University’s Board of Trustees
today unanimously reaffirmed its position not to
reinstate the Warriors nickname and announced that it
would establish a process for stakeholders to select the
new Marquette athletics nickname. The Trustees made the
decision after reviewing feedback received in the past
week from students, alumni and fans expressing surprise
and frustration that their voices were not adequately
heard in the decision
to change from Golden Eagles to Marquette Gold.
“We have spent the past week listening. We heard
you,” said John Bergstrom, chairman of the
Board of Trustees. “The decision to change the
nickname to Marquette Gold generated a response that we
did not expect from Marquette stakeholders. We regret
that we disappointed them and we want to respond to
those concerns. We’ve established a new process today so
that your voices can be heard. It’s transparent, it’s
inclusive and it’s easy.”
No reinstatement of "Warriors"
The Board unanimously reaffirmed its position not to
reinstate the Warriors nickname. As stewards of the
university’s mission, the Trustees believe Marquette
must adhere to the highest possible standards of its
Catholic, Jesuit mission, which include recognizing and
appreciating the dignity of every member of our human
family.
“While I recognize that some people are disappointed
that we are not reinstating the Warriors nickname, we
cannot teach one principle about respect for human
dignity in our classrooms and then fail to act by that
same principle when making decisions,” President Robert
Wild, S.J., said. “The Warriors nickname will always be
part of our proud athletics tradition, and we will honor
that tradition. But we live in a different era than when
the Warriors nickname was selected in 1954. The
perspective of time has shown us that our actions,
intended or not, can offend others. We must not
knowingly act in a way that others will believe, based
on their experience, to be an attack on their dignity as
fellow human beings.”
New process announced
The Board of Trustees announced a
new process by which a new athletics nickname will
be chosen and also announced the formation of the
Marquette Nickname Advisory Committee made up of
representative students, alumni, faculty and staff. The
process will include:
- Within the next two weeks, a list of as many as
ten names will be presented to the Marquette
community. All the names presented will be selected
from the hundreds of names suggested by the Marquette
community during either the 1994 or 2004 nickname
processes. While the final list has not been decided,
the list will certainly include some of the obvious
names given Marquette’s athletics history, including
Blue and Gold, Golden Avalanche, Hilltoppers and
Golden Eagles.
There will also be a write-in option, presented with
the parameters that votes for Warriors will not be
counted, and that all write-in’s must be consistent
with both our Jesuit, Catholic mission and the Board
resolution on Native American imagery.
- All members of the Marquette community, including
students, alumni, faculty, and staff will be asked to
choose two nicknames from the list, or can offer a
write-in option.
- The two options receiving the most support from
the first vote will be presented to the Marquette
community for a second vote. The nickname with the
most support in the second vote will then be presented
to the President to be announced as Marquette’s new
athletics nickname going into the
Big
East Conference.
Both votes will be binding, and will be conducted on
the Web with provisions made for those who do not have
Internet access. Members of the Marquette community will
be notified via mail and e-mail in the coming weeks
about steps for participating in the voting process.
More information about the voting process will also be
available online through the athletics nickname decision
Web site.
The Marquette Nickname Advisory Committee will
oversee the voting process and will advise the
university in the development of the look of the new
nickname, following its selection after the second vote.
Timeline
Marquette has preliminarily planned that the timing
for the nickname process will be as follows:
- Week of May 23: List of nickname options
will be presented to the Marquette community for the
first vote. The Marquette community (students, alumni,
faculty and staff) will choose two names from the
list, or offer a write-in.
- Mid-June: Second vote will be conducted
with the top-two vote getters.
- By July 1: The winning nickname will be
announced. Following the choice of a new nickname,
Marquette will further engage the Marquette community,
through focus groups and other forums, in the design
of a visual identity for the new nickname, with a new
logo to be chosen by the start of the school year.
Students will be asked to give input on design and
name the mascot (the costumed character appearing at
games) in the fall.
Parameters for the nickname selection
The Board agreed that any nickname selected must be
consistent with the
university’s mission and adhere to the
resolution passed last September banning use of any
Native American imagery or references in Marquette’s
athletics nickname, logo or mascot. In addition, the new
nickname must be selected by Marquette’s official entry
into the Big East Conference on July 1. The Golden
Eagles will remain Marquette’s athletics nickname until
July 1.
Father Wild concluded, “We must remember that
Marquette University is first and foremost an academic
institution. We have great momentum resulting from the
accomplishments of our students, faculty and alumni over
the past several years. Just last week we received the
largest single donation in university history with a
gift of $28 million that will transform our College of
Communication. For the third consecutive year, we
celebrate the fact that students are applying to
Marquette in record numbers. Marquette has risen in
national academic rankings. The campus has undergone a
physical transformation, and Marquette has enjoyed the
most successful fund-raising period in its history,
raising more than $300 million during the current
comprehensive campaign. These are the true measures of a
great university.”
This article was taken from
www.marquette.edu. All rights
reserved.
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