Quinnipiac moves to change American Indian nickname

The Quinnipiac University board of trustees recently announced that the university will cease using "Braves" as the nickname for its athletics teams.

"Although fond of the tradition we've had for 50 years, the university community clearly recognized the difficulties of using a name that has the potential to misrepresent and denigrate an entire group of people," said Lynn Bushnell, Quinnipiac vice-president for public affairs.

"And, despite our clear intention to honor and remember the Native Americans once known as the Quinnipiaks, to do so only through athletics was found to be no longer appropriate."

The trustees' decision was based on a recommendation by Quinnipiac President John L. Lahey, and it was preceded by a semester of discussions by the school's faculty senate, student government association, president's cabinet and alumni board of governors. Each of those discussions resulted in a formal vote to stop using "Braves."

The school had stopped using human representations associated with the nickname years ago out of concern that such representations were disrespectful and perhaps in conflict with antidiscrimination policies. It had replaced those logos and representations with feathers, for example, while retaining the American Indian association and team nickname.

Even retaining "Braves" led to difficulties, since the Quinnipiac women's teams found the "Lady Braves" moniker offensive.

"QU has incredible campus spirit," said Athletics Director Jack McDonald, "but the limitations provided by the 'Braves' nickname has made us unable to capture and promote that spirit with mascot, logos and nicknames."

The school will now turn to the Quinnipiac community -- including students, alumni, faculty and staff -- for recommendations for a new athletics identity. A final recommendation is expected to be made to the board of trustees before the end of the 2001-02 academic year.

"We want to build an identity that will help strengthen QU athletics, and in so doing, create an emblem our student-athletes and fans will wear with honor and pride," Bushnell said.

Yale celebrates 150 years of of athletics

Yale University honored some of the most famous names in its athletics history recently at the inaugural Blue Leadership Ball, where the school also celebrated its 150th year of intercollegiate athletics.

An integral part of the celebration was the inaugural presentation of the George H.W. Bush Lifetime of Leadership Awards, which honor former Yale student-athletes who have made significant leadership contributions. Nine winners were selected for the awards this year. They were:

John Akers, a 1956 graduate and four-year letter-winner on the Yale men's ice hockey team, who went on to serve as a pilot in the U.S. Navy and then to a 34-year career with IBM. He was chairman and chief executive officer from 1985 to 1993.

Nicholas F. Brady, a 1952 graduate and captain of Yale's top- ranked squash team. He was appointed to complete a term in the U.S. Senate, and also was appointed to four Presidential Commissions by then-President Ronald Reagan. Brady also was appointed as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

Joseph Cullman, a 1935 graduate, was a varsity wrestler who became chief executive officer of Philip Morris. Cullman also served as chair of the World Wildlife Fund, and he contributed significantly to the success of the Virginia Slims women's professional tennis circuit.

Calvin Hill, a 1969 graduate who went on to play professional football, appearing in two Super Bowls and four Pro Bowls before his retirement in 1981. Hill is on the board of the NCAA Foundation, the President's Council on Physical Fitness, the National Parks Service and the March of Dimes.

John Lee, a 1958 graduate and record-breaking basketball player who was drafted by the New York Knicks but decided to pursue graduate study in chemical engineering and a career in business.

Vernon R. Loucks, a 1957 graduate and football letter-winner who was CEO of Baxter International and founded the Aethena Group, a private management company. He has served as special advisor to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Elizabeth Munson, a 1978 graduate who played squash and tennis. She was appointed last year as president of the Rockefeller Trust Co.

Kwaku Ohene-Frempong, a 1970 graduate who ran track and played soccer. He was a member of the Ghana Olympic track team and also graduated from Yale medical school. He is now a professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and is a leading authority on sickle-cell diseases.

James "Stillman" Rockefeller, a 1924 graduate, was known as one of Yale's greatest rowers and captain of a gold-medal-winning team in the 1924 Olympics. He became president and chair of CitiBank of New York.

--Compiled by Kay Hawes

Number crunching

Looking back

The special Conventions

This year's Convention in Indianapolis will be the Association's 96th of the annual variety, but there also have been six "special" Conventions called to handle emergency issues.

The first was held in August 1973 to deal with an issue that didn't reach closure during the 1973 annual Convention. At the latter, a proposal to divide the NCAA into Divisions I and II for legislative and competitive reasons failed in a close vote (218 to 224), primarily because opponents believed there was sufficient support for a third choice.

A committee chaired by Muskingum College Athletics Director Edgar A. Sherman subsequently crafted a proposal that included a third division and, as Sherman said, "enables each NCAA member to seek the level of competition it desires and permits each division, within certain limits, to determine its own legislative destiny."

In August 1975, the NCAA held its second special Convention, this time to deal with a growing financial concern that threatened the health of intercollegiate athletics. Then-NCAA President John A. Fuzak of Michigan State University asked delegates to set aside special interests and focus on measures to cut costs so that college sports may survive. "It is probably better to cut off the hand than to die," Fuzak said. Limitations on coaching staffs, traveling squads and off-campus visits to prospects, and reductions in the number of grants-in-aid allowed were among the key items delegates adopted.

There were so many proposals, in fact (73 original and 103 amendments-to-amendments), that a third special Convention had to be called just before the 1976 annual Convention in order for delegates to complete their business.

The fourth special Convention in December 1981 again dealt with restructuring, this time in football as the membership criteria for Division I-A were made more restrictive.

The former NCAA Presidents Commission was the focus of the NCAA's fifth special Convention in 1985 with legislation that put CEOs more in control of intercollegiate athletics programs. Commission Chair John Ryan of Indiana University, Bloomington, said he and his peers believed that an "integrity crisis" had emerged in college athletics programs, and that the "apparent lack of control (had led) to problems for academic values in higher education."

Ryan and his peers promised more presidential involvement, and he was true to his word. The Presidents Commission convened another special Convention in June 1987. At that time, delegates approved an 18-month national forum that, as then-Commission Chair John B. Slaughter of the University of Maryland, College Park, said, "provides all of us a rare opportunity to decide what intercollegiate athletics should be."