ESPN - NCAA American Indian mascot ban

[bababooey]

Friday, August 5, 2005
NCAA American Indian mascot ban will begin Feb. 1

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Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA banned the use of American Indian mascots by sports teams during its postseason tournaments, but will not prohibit them otherwise.
The NCAA's Executive Committee decided this week the organization did not have the authority to bar Indian mascots by individual schools, committee chairman Walter Harrison said Friday.
Nicknames or mascots deemed "hostile or abusive" would not be allowed by teams on their uniforms or other clothing beginning with any NCAA tournament after Feb. 1, said Harrison, the University of Hartford's president.
"What each institution decides to do is really its own business" outside NCAA championship events, he said.
Guidelines were not immediately available on which logos and nicknames would be considered "hostile or abusive."
The NCAA two years ago recommended that schools determine for themselves whether the Indian depictions were offensive.
Among the schools to change nicknames in recent years over such concerns were St. John's (from Redmen to Red Storm) and Marquette (from Warriors to Golden Eagles).
The NCAA plans to ban schools using Indian nicknames from hosting postseason events. Harrison said schools with such mascots that have already been selected as tournament sites would be asked to cover any offensive logos.
Such logos also would be prohibited at postseason games on cheerleader and band uniforms starting in 2008.

[geo]

I am of Irish descent. I don't suppose, however, that anyone would care if I found Notre Dame's "Fighting Irish" nickname to be offensive.

[TonyOny]

Always wondered why this flimsy argument didn't apply to the Fighting Irish.

How would people respond if we'd gone from Brown Indians to Fighting Italians, with a big muscle bound Franciscan running around the RC.

What if we were sanctioned and approved by the Seneca Nation as the SBU Senecas? Structured a deal where we created a respectful logo, handed out scholarships to deserving Seneca kids, integrated student teachers into local schools if needed.....would the NCAA disapprove?

[sneakers]

The answer appears to be "yes" they would disapprove. Florida State has just such an arrangement with the Seminole tribe. This is crazy, but in this PC world of academia I am never surprised, just saddened. Go Brown Indians!