Feb 3, 2010 8:48:30 AM

A symposium exploring how a university might appropriately honor Native American peoples and cultures is planned next month at McMurry.

The March 11-12 symposium, titled "The Quest: An Academic Institution Seeks to Honor Native Americans," will feature presentations by three experts on Native American culture and policy and also will involve the McMurry campus community, including faculty, staff and the general public.

"Honoring Native Americans is organically important to McMurry University, reaching well beyond the issue of an athletic team mascot," a university representative wrote in a news release announcing the symposium.

The university discontinued use in 2006 of the "Indians" nickname it used for varsity athletics programs.

Before doing so, McMurry unsuccessfully sought approval to continue using the nickname in NCAA championships, noting a celebratory and educational intent rooted in the desire of the university's founding president to show respect for the Kaw Indian Nation.

The release said the symposium's purpose is to "explore how an academic institution, along with individuals who take seriously the respect and dignity due all persons, can appropriately honor Native American peoples and cultures."

The three participating experts are:

• Professor Richard King, chair of the department of comparative ethnic studies at Washington State, who will speak on "The Social and Cultural Challenges for an Academic Institution to Honor Native Americans." King has published extensively on the cultural, political and racial significance of mascots in athletics, among other topics related to representations of Native American cultures and histories.
• Anthropologist Gordon Bronitsky, founder and president of Bronitsky and Associates, who will speak on "The Institutional Challenges for an Academic Institution to Honor Native Americans." Bronitsky's firm assists indigenous peoples in international marketing of artistic and cultural works, through performances, international tours, exhibitions and trade opportunities.
• Rev. Thomas White Wolf Fassett, a United Methodist Church minister and founding minister of urban mission in Rochester, New York, who will speak on "The Theological and Ecclesiastical Challenges for an Academic Institution to Honor Native Americans." He is a specialist in the fields of faith, public policy and social justice and is regarded as an international champion of human and civil rights and defender of Native and indigenous rights.

The news release said the symposium "should be a major contribution to academia on the subject of honoring Native America" and noted that the three experts also will participate in a panel discussion. Small-group discussions also are planned during the event.