The argumentation over Native American mutant mascot has churn for decades . While pro teams like the Washington Redskins are standing firm , change is brewing in the lower tiers . Over the past three decades , 28 high-pitched schools nickname “ Redskins ” have usher in a unexampled mascot . The last college with the soubriquet dropped it over a decennary ago . Here are some stories of schools that fell their aboriginal American nicknames and mascots .
1. Cooperstown High School, New York
For nine decades , the quaint upstate New York town was home of the Redskins , but that change in March 2013 . astonishingly , the move was n’t sparked by an ireful tribe or school board , but through a student postulation . The Oneida Nation was so affect by the motion , they donated $ 10,000 to cover the change ’s price . The shoal — which is 0.32 percent Native American — now buzz with Hawkeye pride .
2. Carthage College
Oh , the divergence a place reach ! Formerly the “ Redmen , ” Carthage ’s cognomen caught flak from the NCAA in 2005 . So Carthage got creative — they pressed the space stripe , change from the “ Redmen ” to the “ Red men , ” a testament to their bright red jerseys . ( In a big move , they also remove all aboriginal American imagery from the school logo . ) The NCAA give Carthage ’s new name the quarter round up .
3. Wiscasset High School, Maine
After a local Native American mathematical group complained about the school day ’s Redskin moniker , the board settle it was time to start fresh with Wolverine — and it did n’t win them any popularity points . educatee stage a walkout , and , a year subsequently , the boy varsity basketball squad number to a home plot wear t - shirt emblazoned with the old logo . The crowd shower them with a standing ovation .
4. Southern Nazarene College
When Miami University of Ohio became the Redhawks in 1997 , South Nazarene — a little Christian bighearted arts college in Oklahoma — was the only collegiate Redskin leave behind standing . With the schooling ’s 100 - year anniversary approaching , a marketing citizens committee suggested it was prime prison term to change . It proved painless . That said , students did have to briefly endure being represented by a smiling swarm . ( They change to the Crimson Storm . )
5. Dartmouth College
6. Syracuse University
For years , ‘ Cuse ’s mascot was a fearsome goat . But in the 1920s , rumors swirl that the body of a sixteenth - century Onondaga tribal chief had been excavated under the woman ’s gym . The student paper dubbed the physical structure “ Big Chief Bill Orange , ” or the Saltine Warrior , and he rose to mascot fame . When the Saltine Warrior retired in 1978 after protest , a flood of spoiled wedge travel along : A roman gladiator , a Superman knockoff , a troll named “ Egnaro , ” and even a dude in an orange tuxedo . last , in 1980 , Otto the plush orange tree capture fans ’ hearts .
7. Stanford University
Stanford sported a logotype of a near cross - eyed Indian with a big nose in the thirties . In 1972 , Native American educatee petition against it . Stanford changed its mascot to the “ Cardinal”—a move that confuse everyone . ( The name referred to the schooltime color — not the songbird . ) Stanford had unravel through plenty of other ideas , too : Robber Barons , Railroaders , Sequoias , Trees , Spikes , Huns , and Griffins . In 1975 , the Stanford band poke playfulness at the wishy - washy renaming cognitive process by teasingly introducing a steaming manhole , a Gallic tiddler , and a tree . Fans precipitate in love with the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , and he ’s been there ever since .
BONUS: Amherst College
Although Amherst does n’t have a aboriginal American mascot , it has roped itself into the argumentation . Their mascot , Lord Jeff , is a impersonation of Lord Jeffery Amherst , commander of the British Army during the French and Indian War . Amherst gets a bad blame because he approved the infamous programme to give variola infested blankets to Native Americans . In his letter , Amherst indite that he wanted to “ bring about the full Extirpation of those Indian Nations ” and to “ put a most legal Stop to their very Being . ” He even propose hunting Indians with dogs . The debate is ongoing , and a fistful of townies have even advise exchange the locale ’s name .
