The Virginian-Pilot
©
WILLIAMSBURG
The College of William and Mary will now be represented by a griffin, according to the school’s Twitter feed.
The effort to name a new mascot had come down to a pug, griffin, phoenix, wren and king and queen. Amid much fanfare the new griffin mascot joined President Taylor Reveley, cheerleaders, pep band members and about 500 people at William and Mary Hall on Tuesday, according to the college’s Facebook page.
A mythical creature that symbolizes courage and leadership, a griffin has the body of a lion - the king of beasts - and the head of an eagle - the king of birds.
William and Mary began searching for a mascot after the NCAA ruled that the university's green and gold feather logo could be offensive to Native Americans.
For decades the college was known as the Indians. The school changed its nickname to Tribe in the 1980s.
In 2006 the NCAA ruled the feathers on the school logo had to go. They could be considered offensive. William and Mary could keep its nickname, though.
Chowan University in Murfreesboro, N.C. also agreed to drop its American Indian nickname and mascot to comply with the 2005 NCAA ruling that bans hostile and abusive racial, ethnic and national origin mascots, nicknames or imagery at NCAA tournaments. They chose the “Hawks” in May 2006.
Chowan had used the nickname “Braves” since the late 1940s; it was derived from the region’s tribes, which were the principal inhabitants when the Murfreesboro area was settled by Colonists in the 16th and 17th centuries, according to the school’s Web site.
Nearby tribes include Chowan, Meherrin, Nottaway and Tuscarora, and the counties, rivers, towns and college names all reflect the heritage.
The school’s new logos were very similar to the old Braves logo, a blue “C” with a feather hanging off one side.
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as a william and mary student
i'm very happy that our mascot is no longer racist.
i'm unhappy that our new mascot is really stupid looking and pantsless.
Good God!
It is just a college mascot. Get over it! Whine, whine, whine.
NCAA
Before the grammer people attack me, "someones" should have been "someone" on my last comment. Also, why wouldn't indians be honored to have a college like W&M use them as a mascot?
NCAA
People in this country fold everytime someones says they are offended. The NCAA said feathers may offend indians so W&M added a freak for a mascott with a head full of feathers. Did the NCAA speak to the wapaho tribe?
hmmm
that is one ugly bird...I mean griffin
The appropriate response should have been "Up yours" to the NCAA
When the NCAA finds that a mascot "MAY be offensive to native Americans", is that the same as "is offensive..."? Further, just how many native Americans do you think they spoke with? I don't know either, but I suspect it's a pretty small number. Whether it's a large or a small number, we, as a society, need to get over this ridiculous Politically Correct nonsense fast!
If we "vanilla" everything down to the point that we don't offend anyone, it's going to be a pretty boring, lifeless, and drab place to be. Come on folks! Strap a set on, stand tall, and throw PC (politically correct, not your pc...) out the window forever! Why?
Political correctness is a symptom of a disease known as liberalism. Diseases, my fellow Americans, must be eradicated...
Wasted Opportunity
They gave their mascot the same name as Busch Gardens' most popular roller coaster, and they did if for free? Surely they could have gotten paid for this kind of corporate sponsorship.
Tribe
I find the NCAA offensive, so I guess we're even.
sadddd
Baddddd really Badddddddddd
mascot could be a pirate...
The College of William and Mary's first endowment came from pirates treasure that was seized on behalf of King William of England. A condition for the return of their ill-gotten riches was that a 300 pound "donation" be granted towards funding for "A Free Schoole or Colledg in Virginia".