Marquette Will Start Nickname Search
By CARRIE ANTLFINGER
Associated Press Writer

May 11, 2005, 2:10 PM CDT

MILWAUKEE -- Amid heavy criticism over its new nickname, the Marquette board of trustees decided Wednesday to abandoned the name Gold and let students, alumni and faculty vote for a new moniker.

The decision came a week after trustees voted to switch the school's nickname to Gold from the Golden Eagles, which the school took in 1994.

In the last week, people upset about the new name flooded the school with angry phone calls, letters and e-mails.

"No one ever thought there would be as much reaction as we got," board chairman John Bergstrom said.

The school will hold a vote via the Internet and allow people to pick from 10 names, university president Robert Wild said.

Wild said the 10 names won't include the Warriors, the university's nickname during a run that saw it win the NCAA men's basketball tournament in 1977 under coach Al McGuire.

The outcry over the university's nickname started about a year ago at graduation when two trustees offered the school $1 million each to go back to Warriors, which it dropped in favor of the Golden Eagles because the name and logo offended some American Indian groups.

Some alumni and students of the Jesuit university couldn't accept the Golden Eagles nickname.

The school hasn't scheduled the Internet vote yet, though Wild said it would take place soon.

Wild said trustees decided to let people vote because they felt much of the negative reaction over the Gold nickname arose because they didn't included others in the decision.

Copyright 2005, The Associated Press

Good....that was quite possibly the worst nickname Ive ever heard.....

That is still so wimpy because a warrior is a soldier, it is not a name that belongs to native Americans!

Those asses got what they deserved. Wilkie is 100% correct.

Wilkie01 Wrote:That is still so wimpy because a warrior is a soldier, it is not a name that belongs to native Americans!

Amen to that!!

So much for the Gold vs Orange "Clash of Colors".

KL

At least they finally admitted they were wrong
Agreed that "Warriors" is not a Native American name.

They should have keep the name "Warriors" but lost the Indian Head logo in the first place!

Quote:The outcry over the university's nickname started about a year ago at graduation when two trustees offered the school $1 million each to go back to Warriors, which it dropped in favor of the Golden Eagles because the name and logo offended some American Indian groups.

:eek: ...they turned down 1 million dollars?!?!.....So did the offened American Indian groups march in protest over the name? Where there picket lines during Marquttee bball games? When was the formal protest made? I am still having trouble understanding why the Warrior name is taboo to the MU administration


Jackson

Very good questions Jackson.

The Marquette Rivals board is elated over the decision, can't say i blame them
Although it looks like the early favorite for the new nickname is Golden Avalanche....I'm not sure that's much better

Wilkie01 Wrote:That is still so wimpy because a warrior is a soldier, it is not a name that belongs to native Americans!

I heard that two of the names that will be included in the vote are the Marquette "Redskins" and "Cherokees," certainly no Warriors though. :D

How 'bout the Marquette Monsters? or Monkeys? or Marquette Jets!

billybluedemon Wrote:Some alumni and students of the Jesuit university couldn't accept the Golden Eagles nickname.

So who didn't like Golden Eagles and why does Marquette feel they need to change it?

A Marquette poster on CardFanatic's old NewBigBoard said that the name "Warriors" actually was originally the idea of about 5 or so tribes from the area.

If "Cherokees" is being considered, then this could be an option; usually when you reference a specific tribe, it's accepted as "politically correct".

I don't know, but it does appear the Marquette administration has egg on their face.

The Marquette University Cheese Warriors (Rainbow Warriors)

I was going to suggest Cheeseheads :D

So who didn't like Golden Eagles and why does Marquette feel they need to change it?

- Pretty much everyone, except for a minority of students. The nickname was forced on the school in the early 90's by the BOT when they made the wildly unpopular decision to drop Warriors.


A Marquette poster on CardFanatic's old NewBigBoard said that the name "Warriors" actually was originally the idea of about 5 or so tribes from the area.

-Not true. Warriors was selected when the Braves moved to Milwaukee, to play off the city's new big league image. A side reason was Fr. Marquette's ties with the Native Americans.


If "Cherokees" is being considered, then this could be an option; usually when you reference a specific tribe, it's accepted as "politically correct".

-Not an option. Actually, nothing that depicts an individual will be considered. They also want it to be gender and racially neutral. Warriors was accepted by most Native Americans, and it was not accepted. There are a few very vocal Native American tribes in the region that oppose "Marquette Warriors", not Warriors per se. Jackson, I know you don't get it, but neither does 80% of the MU community.



I don't know, but it does appear the Marquette administration has egg on their face.

-Very true. Very issues that you can find wherein 97% oppose, as with Gold.



I am in Phily on business, so I may not be up to date, but from what I can tell, the favorites are:

1) Golden Avalanche. Long time nickname of the football team. Administration is against this because of a long time bar on campus by the same name. (Home of the naked beer slides)

2) Hilltoppers. Again, a long time nickname for the school and the name that proceeded Warriors.

3) Black Robes. Reference to the Jesuits order that run Marquette

4) Golden Eagles. Old alums hate it, but some students like it. Given that the vote is online and that students are more computer savy than 80 year old, it has a chance.

Golden Avalanche has a historical tie to Marquette in that our football team (yes, we did have football once) was known as the Golden Avalanche in the 20's and 30's. People outside MU would not understand without the historical reference.

It may also get alumni talking about working to get football back to MU.

i thought Marquette "Worriers" was a good suggestion

How about Marquette Explorers or the "eXs".

The Political Correcties! :laugh: