For the uniniated, can an EMU fan give some background on the change from Hurons to Eagles, in particular the inexplicable fact that the school missed the marketing gold mine of switching to Emus?



I, for one, will always consider EMU the Hurons, as I still consider Miami the Redskins.

Anyway, tell us a story!

Ah yes, the old Huron debate. Treading dangerous waters there ’87! It’s been a sore subject since the change occurred.

But, to summarize, the change was initiated and led by an activist Board of Regents who in turn were being led around by the nose by a carpetbagger president and all were bent on showing how enlightened they were by initiating th

BGSUalum1987 Wrote:

:rofl:

HuronDave Wrote:Ah yes, the old Huron debate. Treading dangerous waters there ’87! It’s been a sore subject since the change occurred.

But, to summarize, the change was initiated and led by an activist Board of Regents who in turn were being led around by the nose by a carpetbagger president and all were bent on showing how enlightened they were by initiating th

That's a good summary. I would like to add that the change was made over the objections of the Huron-Wyandotte people who asked the university to keep the Huron nickname. Then president Sheldon basically told them "Shut up, I'll tell you when you are being oppressed." On a humorous note, one of Sheldon's supporters and a key advisor in the move was a Cherokee chief whose name, I believe was Standing Bear. The humor comes in when the Cherokee nation pointed out that he wasn't even Cherokee, let alone a chief.

The whole affair was a study in political correctness run amok. The adoption of "Eagles" was done without consultation with anyone on campus outside of the president's office and the board. There was a brief, student led movement, advocating the adoptions of "Emus" for the new nickname. The change caused a lot of bad feeling among the alumni, my wife included, cost the university unknown amounts of money in contributions, and spawned the Huron Restoration Alumni Club, the largest alumni organization that EMU has.

I cannot imagine the immense marketing opportunity missed by not choosing the Emus - Heck, I'd even buy a Easter Michgian Emus t-shirt! Talk about putting a school on the map. Eagles just seems so bland by comparison.

Actually, my full response got truncated due to some server problems here at work. Here, hopefully, is the whole thing:

Ah yes, the old Huron debate. Treading dangerous waters there ?87! It?s been a sore subject since the change occurred.

But, to summarize, the change was initiated and led by an activist Board of Regents who in turn were being led around by the nose by a carpetbagger president and all were bent on showing how enlightened they were by initiating this change. The funny thing was, the Wyandott Nation (there really are no Huron Indians, technically speaking) had made it known they had no issue with the name, and in fact, had input in the design of the classic Huron logo that you see in my avatar (thanks again, DexterEagle!) and even tried to send a representative to make this known to the Board of Regents. How did the Board respond? They threw out the chief and refused to let him speak because he was not the official agenda.

Here is more irony: The original nickname "Hurons" was adopted back in the 1920?s or 30?s after a school sponsored contest. At the time the big hangout was the "Huron Hotel" which was essentially a speakeasy. The students who hung out there referred to themselves as "Hurons" and that is how the name actually derived. Of course EMU is also situated near to the Huron River.

I agree with you that once the ill-fated decision was made to change the name, at least Emus would have been unique and gotten some attention. Eagles? Give me a break. Of course not long after this occurred the president and most of the board moved on but we were stuck with this change.

There have been attempts to restore the nickname (there is even a Huron Restoration Alumni Chapter) but it appears that we are stuck with Eagles. The good news is that the University is finally acknowledging again its Hurons heritage and allowing the old Huron logo to appear in the Convo Center and other areas alongside the Eagles name.

Well, I guess I got a little long-winded there.

Long-winded?

Naaaaah. It's totally trivial details that college sports fans thrive on!

A couple of points:

1. I didn't know about the Huron Hotel story. Great local history.

2. The whole EMU name switch didn't orginate at EMU but at Ypsilanti HS whose athletic teams are known as the Braves. It was started by a woman whose sons are of Chippewa heritage and abetted by the small number of Native Americans who actually care about this "issue". Ironically, the controversy at YHS continues as the same people who started the questioning 10+ years ago have once again risen and are pressuring the HS to change its nickname. YHS still uses the word Braves, as Atlanta presents it, as its logo.

DexterEagle Wrote:A couple of points:

1. I didn't know about the Huron Hotel story. Great local history.

2. The whole EMU name switch didn't orginate at EMU but at Ypsilanti HS whose athletic teams are known as the Braves. It was started by a woman whose sons are of Chippewa heritage and abetted by the small number of Native Americans who actually care about this "issue". Ironically, the controversy at YHS continues as the same people who started the questioning 10+ years ago have once again risen and are pressuring the HS to change its nickname. YHS still uses the word Braves, as Atlanta presents it, as its logo.

Thanks DE...I didn't know about that bit about Ypsi HS. Funny though how the HS has managed to keep its nickname.