EDITORIAL: Time for the board to take action
| SHOULD WE CHANGE THE APACHE? Faculty Response Student Response |
WHAT THE NEWSPAPER STAFF THINKS COLUMN: A change will do no good COLUMN: It's time for a change |
Dr. Jean Goodnow, college president, says her sensitivity has changed in regard to the issue of keeping the Apache as IVCC's mascot.
"We have the term 'diversity' in our mission statement and we need to make sure we walk our talk," she says.
Why not bounce the issue off of other board members and take it up in a meeting. It's a controversial issue; everyone seems to have an opinion on it one way or another.
In Huntley, a small suburban high school northwest of Chicago, the school board voted on the issue and decided to keep Redskins as the school's mascot.
At the University of Illinois, the issue was also raised by the college board and was protested by several students. However, it wasn't brought up until it became a distraction at the college.
At IVCC, the issue is simply a debate. There had been several stories written about the mascot in the Apache, but as far as we're aware, nothing has been done by the board in response to these articles.
And so the debate wages on in classrooms, water coolers and bars, instead of in a board room, where it belongs.
We're not asking for the board to make a decision on the matter right away. That'd be brash and isn't the way any important issue should be handled.
The board simply needs to open discussions about the matter; town meetings and debates involving college students and area residents are good starting points. Student organizations like POWER and SGA should get involved.
If IVCC is truly a school that looks for diversity in its curriculum, then the mascot issue is one that shouldn't be ignored.