Morris: A change in name only

The reasons for Newberry’s name about-face are less than commendable

NEWBERRY COLLEGE STILL does not get it.

Its board of trustees voted this past weekend to do away with the Indians nickname the school has carried for its athletics teams. Those teams will be known only as Newberry College for the 2008-09 athletic year.

As much as I would like to sing the praises of the school for finally caving to the NCAA’s mandate — on behalf of Native American tribes nationwide — to eliminate the offensive nickname, I cannot do it. Newberry officials are making the change for the wrong reason.

“Absolutely not,” were the words of Chuck Wendt, the school’s vice president for institutional advancement, when asked if Newberry finally had conceded that calling its teams Indians might be offensive or racist.

Instead, Wendt went on to say the primary reason Newberry is dropping “Indians” is so its athletics teams can play host to NCAA postseason events. Since 2004, schools such as Newberry were prohibited from serving as host sites for postseason events as long as they used what the NCAA deemed offensive nicknames.

“In the final decision, the board centered (on) what is right for the kids,” Wendt said. “That’s the important thing, the student-athletes. It wouldn’t be fair to them not to allow them to be able to host playoff games, or they would have to cover up their ‘Indian’ name with duct tape if they went some place to play.”

Actually, what is right for the student-athletes is for the board of trustees to show some integrity and strong leadership skills. The board should recognize that using arrowheads in logos, celebrating with “war chants” and calling its teams Indians is no way to honor Native Americans.

Yet, Newberry president Mick Zais will not give up the fight. He is wooing the support of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation in hopes that Newberry’s athletics teams will some day be called the Cherokees. Zais said Cherokee representatives will visit the Newberry campus in June.

“Your assumption is the right thing is to become the ‘Pine Needles’ or the ‘Kudzu’ or something,” Zais said. “But a lot of people think the right thing would be to associate with the history of bravery in battle, the tenacity in Native American people, their willingness to fight against insurmountable odds, their courage in battle, and to be associated with those people is not a wrong thing but a noble thing.”

Zais said he sought out the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians because Newberry College sits on land that was founded by that tribe. Of course, he admits, every piece of land in the state of South Carolina was founded by some kind of Native American tribe. And, really, if Newberry wanted to honor and celebrate the Cherokees and their history, the school should give its land back to the rightful owners.

Zais was charged with writing Newberry’s appeal to the NCAA three years ago, one that was quickly denied. When he presented the appeal to the commissioner of the South Atlantic Conference, of which Newberry is a member, Zais was told it was much more an attack on the NCAA than an appeal on Newberry’s behalf.

It should be noted that Zais is only one voice in what he calls a “contentious” issue. He gets one vote with Newberry’s 26-member board of trustees. As president of the college, though, Zais can pursue support of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. If he gets that tribe’s endorsement, he will propose that nickname change to the board of trustees.

We only can hope the board of trustees again listens to its faculty and not to Zais. The faculty recently was polled on the use of Indians as a nickname, and Zais confirmed it had a near-unanimous voice against its use. That is what prompted the board of trustees’ decision this past weekend.

“Our board decided to support our student-athletes and cave in to the politically-correct demands of the NCAA,” Zais said. “That’s my view. I think it’s politically-correct nonsense.”

Meanwhile, Newberry is reluctantly removing its previous nickname and logos from its uniforms and arenas. “Fear the Spear” will no longer be a battle cry at athletic events, and the football coach’s cell phone ring tone no longer should be a “war chant.”

“They didn’t grant us anything,” Wendt said. “They were bound and determined that this offensive name, ‘Indians,’ be eliminated from our presence, even though they are located in Indianapolis, Indiana. I don’t know whether they find that offensive or not, but it’s kind of a double standard in my opinion. But that’s how they are, and, unfortunately, they control the playoff schedule.”

If Zais and his subordinates want to take the high road, which would be putting the “new” back in Newberry, they would begin concentrating their efforts on finding a unique nickname that would garner national attention while developing a marketing strategy to sell that nickname nationwide.

It is past time to concede the battle with the NCAA and move on. Heck, if Newberry can no longer be the Indians, why not the Cowboys?