This is just another indication of the all-pervasive fact that the West has lost its cultural confidence, its pride in its history, and its willingness to defend its heritage. The Crusades were actually a late and small-scale defensive response to 450 years of Islamic jihad aggression, but the administrators at Susquehanna University don’t know that, and wouldn’t care if they did. Nor are they in the least bit curious about why their predecessors chose the Crusader nickname in the first place; those people were all racists, doncha know, and now we’re enlightened.
“The school said Monday it had narrowed its list of 400 suggestions to five choices: the Susquehanna Bobcats, Explorers, Phoenix, River Hawks and River Otters.” Oh, come on, folks. Those choices show a real failure of imagination. How about something that shows some continuity with the discarded nickname — a nod to Susquehanna University’s proud heritage, and something that shows the real transition that is being made? How about the Susquehanna Dhimmis? Or maybe the Susquehanna Milk al-Yamin? Or they could keep it simple and cut to the chase, and just go with the Susquehanna Losers.
“University searches for new nickname to replace politically incorrect ‘Crusader,’” Fox News, January 19, 2016:
A Pennsylvania university is searching for a new mascot and nickname to replace its longtime “Crusaders” moniker, which the school says is “at odds” with its “values and commitment to diversity and inclusiveness.”
Susquehanna University is asking people to submit their top choices for a replacement by Jan. 25. The top contenders — which might include the Bobcarts or River Otters — will then be submitted to the university president, who will in turn present them to the school’s board of trustees, a university spokeswoman told FoxNews.com Tuesday.
The school’s board of trustees voted in October to replace the Crusader name, after consulting with alumni, students, faculty and staff.
The Crusader name, which was first used by a Philadelphia sports writer in 1924, was a reference to then-Susquehanna athletic director Luther Grossman’s “crusade” to bring integrity to intercollegiate athletics.
“Many critics of the term Crusader feel that connotations of the word — related to the medieval Crusaders who used violence in the name of religion — are at odds with the university’s increasing diversity and its commitment to embracing and respecting difference,” the school said in a statement obtained by FoxNews.com.
“Moreover, many students have long indicated a desire for an unambiguous mascot that they could rally behind,” the school said….
In 2000, Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., dropped its Crusaders name and changed it to Thunder. Other schools have since followed suit, including Maranatha Baptist University in 2014, Eastern Nazarene College in 2009, University of the Incarnate Word in 2004 and Point Loma Nazarene University in 2003, which changed its name to the Sea Lions.
The school said Monday it had narrowed its list of 400 suggestions to five choices: the Susquehanna Bobcats, Explorers, Phoenix, River Hawks and River Otters. The school is urging the university community to rank which of the names they like best in an online survey to be submitted by Jan. 25.