SOUTHEAST COMMITTEE WILL RECONSIDER SCHOOL'S INDIAN NICKNAMES; PANEL SEEKS PUBLIC'S INPUT ON SUGGESTIONS FOR MASCOT

A Southeast Missouri State University committee said Wednesday it will revisit the issue of whether the school's athletic teams should keep their Indian and Otahkian nicknames.

But the committee also decided to move ahead with efforts to recommend a mascot to university President Dr. Dale Nitzschke by semester's end.

Committee members welcomed public input in the process. The Southeast Missourian currently is soliciting suggestions for mascot. Those suggestions are being forwarded to the committee.

The committee two weeks ago voted that the school's athletic teams keep their Indian and Otahkian nicknames.

But the committee agreed to reconsider the issue after committee member Dr. Shelba Branscum objected to the vote.

Branscum, a faculty member in the human environmental studies department at Southeast, didn't attend the meeting two weeks ago.

She said she was disappointed the committee had acted so quickly to keep the nicknames. She argued that the committee needed to give the issue more study.

"I thought it was just extremely irresponsible," she said of the committee's action.

But some committee members said the issue had been studied.

Branscum said universities shouldn't use an ethnic name like Indians to refer to their sports teams.

"We don't have teams called African-Americans or Germans," she said.

Branscum said that if the university is going to keep the Indian nickname, it also should have an Indian mascot.

But other committee members disagreed.

Student Matt Blake said the Phoenix Suns professional basketball team has a gorilla as a mascot.

Gymnastics Coach Bill Hopkins said a mascot should entertain the crowd with various antics.

"If you use an Indian to do those things, I think it would be degrading," he said. "If you use a chicken to do those things, I don't think it is degrading."

Student Chip Barnhill co-chairs the committee. He said keeping the Indian nickname would give the school the opportunity to educate the public about Indian culture.

Committee members suggested they may hold a contest to get suggestions for a mascot.

The committee said it will make some initial decisions by April 30 and vote on a final report at its May 14 meeting.

Committee members said any final decision rests with Nitzschke and the university administration.