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By Manuel García Sánchez
Apache Co-editor
A 54-year-old tradition ended on Sept. 17 when the IVCC Board of Trustees voted to discontinue having the Apache as the college mascot. From Sept. 17 until the new nickname is selected, the college will have no mascot.
IVCC Board of Trustees member Harry Debo said that many schools have spent a lot of money defending the use of Native American mascots and he does not feel it is necessary for IVCC to do that.
“The Board of Trustees received a petition by the students and we voted for it,” said Debo.The mascot issue began last semester after IVCC president Dr. Jean Goodnow received a communication from former Apache Associate Editor Dave Msseemmaa, asking for a change.
In addition to the communication from Msseemmaa, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a statement in mid-April calling for the end of Indian names as mascots. Afterward, there was some discussion in the Administrative Cabinet but, since it was so late in the year, the discussion was postponed until the beginning of the fall semester.
In addition to the debate within the Administrative Cabinet, the Student Government Association wrote a letter on Aug. 30, 2001, urging the Board of Trustees to change the name of the mascot. The Students Services Administrative Team seconded the SGA request.The Board of Trustees’ decision was reached following the recommendation of the Student Government Association, Student Services Administrative Team, and the Administrative Cabinet.
“We took the three group recommendations to the Board of Trustees, and they (Board of Trustees) took action on them,” said Goodnow.
The college newspaper called for the changing of the mascot in the editorial of its last issue (Sept. 13).Upon the action taken by the Board of Trustees, the word Apache was deleted from the college web page. The only place that the word can be found is on the newspaper web page.
Reaction to the Board of Trustees resolution has been mixed in the IVCC community.
“I think it was the wise thing for us to do,” said Goodnow. “To be responsive and to promote tolerance of other groups. It was time for us to move on and change when it is appropriate.”
She agreed also with Bob Marshall, vice president of Students Services, that the adoption of Apache as the IVCC mascot was not intended to be a derogatory thing towards American Indians.Marshall said,
“We believe now that the continued use of the name Apache would be contrary to our institutional core values.” Members of SGA were also pleased with the voting. They felt that the use of the Apache mascot could offend members of the community.
SGA student trustee Lisa Twardowski said, “If you look it up, there is no historical evidence of the Apache in this area.”
IVCC Athletic Director Mike Riley, is also in favor of the change. He said that it is necessary to be sensitive to certain needs out there and this is one of them. Riley added that for freshmen, abandoning the Apache name has not been a big deal. While for sophomores, especially older graduates, it is a more controversial issue.
“We need to keep the Apache name as far as our past history,” Riley said. “I do not think we will just forget it.”
There have been some complaints about how fast the decision was made and why there was not a community survey regarding the abandoning of the Apache mascot. The resolution of the Sept. Board Meeting took most of the college by surprise. Goodnow said that there are some things that do not require a survey.
“If there are issues related, especially, to Civil Rights issues, you feel that the college is doing something stated by the Commission on Civil Rights,” Goodnow said. “You do not take a survey of the whole group that say ‘Should we? Or Should we not?’”
A committee headed by Bob Marshall will devise the process by which the new name will be selected. Marshall said he hopes to have a new mascot to present to the Board for their approval by the Nov. 21 meeting.