Opinions evenly divided at SEMO nickname forum

About 40 people gathered Wednesday evening for the second of two scheduled public forums on Southeast Missouri State University's proposal to change the school's Indian nickname.

Participants in the campus event were evenly divided in their opinion of whether or not to keep the Indian symbol. Alumni who identified with the Indian claimed that to do away with the nickname would end any kind of education students might have about and respect for American Indians.

Others followed the thinking of the university's nickname committee and wanted to find something the university could market, be it a red wolf or a red hawk -- the top two nicknames the committee has come up with so far based on a survey of students and alumni.

Hamner Hill, chairman of the department of political science, philosophy and religion, advised the committee to decide whether they're answering a moral question or a business question.

"It has nothing to do with respect and we should not pretend it does," Hill said. "If it's a moral question, then is it right? Or is it good business? We can choose to remain Indians, but we will never have a mascot, and that's what we need."

Dr. Debbie Below, director of admissions, said it's hard to compete against the University of Missouri's Truman the Tiger and Southwest Missouri State University's bear mascot while handing out information to students when all Southeast has on its information is an image of Academic Hall. Southeast is developing a mascot by default because of that, she said.

'We're beginning to be called the domers," she said.

Marketing is not meant to be a bad word, said Charlie Wiles, a retired marketing professor who now works in athletic marketing for the university.

A mascot is valuable in stirring up enthusiasm and leaving a good memory in the minds of spectators who come to see the games, he said. Even if a team has a losing record, if the spectators had a good time, that's what they remember.

Some said they find it hard to accept political correctness. Jan Moore, an alumna of the 1950s, said it's hard to give up the Indian after having been one for such a long time. Vernon Bruckerhoff of St. Mary, Mo., said he felt pride when he recalled his days at the university seeing Chief Sagamore at school functions.

"I don't know how you can take the Indian out of Southeast Missouri," Bruckerhoff said. "Where can you set foot in Southeast Missouri and not walk in the tracks of the American Indian?"

He said he hoped the school could reach some middle ground and turn Chief Sagamore from a mascot to a diplomat.

P.J. Smith, the women's basketball coach, said he is one-quarter Osage Indian, and he would prefer the school had a different nickname and mascot. He said he understands Bruckerhoff's nostalgia for Chief Sagamore, but added, "There is no honor in having a Chief Sagamore. Indians are less educated, they have the lowest self-esteem of any minority group. It is frustrating to me to hear what honors an Indian; only an Indian knows."

While some in attendance said they were lukewarm to the notion of red wolves or red hawks, Cindy Gannon, a member of the committee, said having such a gender-neutral mascot eliminates the need to have a separate name for women's athletic teams.

Amid all the speculation about political correctness and marketing and whether or not the two can coexist for the good of the school, Seth Schuster, a freshman member of the track team, said a mascot and a nickname work when they're embraced. He is from Columbia, Mo., where his high school mascot is the Kewpie, "a genderless, weak baby doll," he said. "But we made it strong."

"I'm a Kewpie and very proud of it. I get laughed at but hey, whatever."

The nickname committee will continue to gather information and make its recommendation to the board of regents June 30.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

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