(08-14-2012 12:26 PM)Burn the Horse Wrote: I really like ULM's logo.
Were ULM students/fans in support of or against the logo and mascot overhaul?
I think they were in support. Only made the change cause apparenty native americans found the word indians as a mascot offensive. which in part with me being part cherokee indian i dont see it as offensive unlike redskins. heres a little history i dug up on the change.
On January 30, 2006, university president James Cofer announced officially that ULM would be retiring the 75-year-old "Indians" mascot in light of new NCAA restrictions against American Indian-themed mascots, which the NCAA considers "hostile and abusive" to Native Americans, despite issuing an appeal to the NCAA to keep the name after the NCAA's ruling allowing FSU to keep their Seminoles nickname.[3] This came a few days after a mascot committee voted unanimously in favor of the change. The university accepted suggestions for the new mascot through February 28, 2006. The mascot committee then selected 12 semifinalists.[4]
An online poll, available to students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors and the public, yielded three semifinalists: "Warhawks," "Bayou Gators" and "Bayou Hawks." [5] The school's mascot committee passed a single recommendation to the university president, who made the final decision. Warhawks was announced as ULM's new mascot on April 5, 2006 and implemented on June 26, 2006.[6] The new nickname honors Maj. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault, an LSU alumnus, and his Air Force unit from World War II, which utilized the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk in battle, although the logos primarily use bird imagery.
Louisiana-Monroe will appeal nickname ban
The Associated Press
MONROE, La. — Louisiana-Monroe will ask the NCAA to allow them to remain the Indians.
The school will appeal the NCAA's recent ruling banning the use of Indian names and imagery in postseason events, athletic director Bobby Staub said.
"We received information from the NCAA about the appeals process and that's what we were waiting on," Staub said. "Now we're collecting that data and we're going back to our committee that was involved in our mascot self study to begin with. They are formulating their plan to submit an appeal."
ULM is one of 18 schools using mascots that the NCAA deemed "hostile or abusive." Florida State on Tuesday won its appeal and will be allowed to use Seminoles as its mascot in any postseason appearances.
Approval from American Indian tribes would be a primary factor in deciding appeals from schools that want to use Indian nicknames and mascots in postseason play, according to the NCAA.
"Obviously there are numerous Indian tribes in Louisiana," Staub said Wednesday. "We're going to be in contact with those organizations to get — hopefully — a letter of affirmation. That will be a part of our appeal. We're starting that process right now."
The Florida State ruling is a good sign, said ULM fan Charlie Miller. He pointed out former ULM player Perry Beaver and former head coach James L. Malone — both men with Indian heritage — as part of the school's claim to the usage.
"The tradition goes back a long way," Miller said. "We don't want to change our name. A lot of people are still irritated because we're ULM instead of Northeast." The school was once named Northeast Louisiana University.
This spring the school retired the cartoonish mascot Chief Brave Spirit from appearing at ULM events. References to the campus as "The Reservation" were also stopped.
Mascot Semi-Finalists
At Wednesday's meeting, the ULM Mascot Committee expanded the list of mascot semi-finalists to 12 after a conference call with Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) and Rickabaugh Graphics, consultants who are advising ULM in the mascot naming and marketing process.
The Mascot Committee sought the expanded list after CLC indicated "Hawks" may have trademark and copyright infringement, which is nationally trademarked by the Atlanta Hawks, a NBA team.
The committee also sought feedback from CLC and Rickabaugh Graphics on the original list of semi-finalists.
The updated list, listed alphabetically, left-to-right are:
Aviators Bayou Bandits
Bayou Bruins Bayou Buccaneers
Bayou Gators Bayou Hawks
Bayou Raiders Bayou Storm
Marauders Thunder
Thunderbirds Warhawks
http://www.ulm.edu/mascot/documents/onli...esults.pdf