MU had a bumpy ride
Nickname, mascot changes controversial
It would be overstating things to say the environment during Marquette's first game as the Golden Eagles rather than the Warriors — an 82-74 win over UNLV — was polarized or adversarial. But you didn't need to look far to see signs that the transition to a new mascot in the 1994-95 season had been bumpy.
A banner proclaiming "Once a Warrior, always a Warrior," put together by a group of recent Marquette alumni, was in the stands. The student cheering section performed a "Warriors" chant. Some shouted, "Dodo bird," and "Eagles don't have fur!" at the new mascot, who tripped on his in-line skates leaving the basketball court — a perfect metaphor for how his introduction had gone over on campus.
On Monday, the NFL franchise in Washington announced it is retiring its longtime nickname and logo and would announce its new direction soon. The team name has been a controversy in the NFL for years, but a nationwide refocus on diversity and recognition that racist symbols need removal seems to have finally served as the impetus for change.
In 1993, MU president Father Albert J DiUlio was ahead of the curve, instituting a change that remains polarizing. The process itself didn't go smoothly, and the story produced a bizarre sequel in 2005, but the decision is one that resonates for many MU fans decades later.
1971: End of ‘Willie Wampum’
The Warriors name was first selected in 1954 because of Native Americans' association with Father Jacques Marquette, the French Jesuit missionary and 17th century explorer for whom the university was named when it opened in 1881.
Marquette adopted a "Willie Wampum" mascot before eliminating that in 1971, considering the mascot offensive. In its place, MU added a "First Warrior" in the early 1980s, portrayed by an American Indian student at athletic events. That was abandoned in 1987 when Marquette's American Indian students declined to participate.
Mark Denning was a sophomore in 1981 when he became the "First Warrior," and his likeness was used in the silhouette that became the Warriors mascot. For him, the experience fell well short of a more representative use of the Warriors theme, starting with the decision to use music from a Hamm's Beer commercial.
"It affected me from Day 1," he said. "I wanted to say something about it, but there's all these people with PhDs and master's that know so much around me. They're wanting it to succeed but they're also missing their caricature of Willie Wampum, so they're putting those things in there.
"I did it for three years, and that was my fault that I allowed it . ... The rebellious spirit that I had was, this needs to work. People need to see Native people in a new light and we can define who we are. We can graduate from Hamm's Beer commercials and graduate from tropes thrown out at games; we've got our foot in the door."
Instead, Denning grew increasingly disillusioned with the racist messages he heard at games and in the classroom.
A fuzzy blue Muppet-like mascot named "Bleuteaux" was adopted for the 1985-86 season but didn't catch on and lasted only three years.
When Marquette made the nickname change in 1993, it had enrolled 28 students identified as American Indian on a campus of nearly 11,000.
Dick Watkins, the United Indians of Milwaukee president, said in 1993, "It's wonderful that everyone thinks of Indians as being proud . ... (but being a Warrior is) not 100% of what being Indian is all about."
Father Albert J. DiUlio, president of Marquette University, advocated for a change of the school's mascot to Golden Eagles. JOURNAL SENTINEL FILES
1993: Warriors ‘not in harmony’
Word leaked out Oct. 8, 1993, that a change was forthcoming, first reported by the Capital Times of Madison, quoting Gaby Grant, a worker at Marquette's multicultural center.
It was three days before MU athletic director Bill Cords confirmed a change was happening, and three weeks transpired before DiUlio addressed the issue.
Finally, on Nov. 1, DiUlio explained that he was the one ultimately asking for a change.
"For more than a year, a committee of students, alumni and administrators discussed the mascot, logo and nickname of Marquette University's athletic teams," DiUlio's statement read. "After a review of the committee's work and a recommendation from my administrative team, I instructed our Athletics Department staff to change the nickname. We were under no pressure from any group. The change was simply the right thing to do, and that decision will not be reversed.
"While Marquette adopted the Warrior name for honorable reasons in 1954, the University, like other institutions, has developed a deeper understanding and awareness of cultures and their traditions. Marquette's current nickname and logo are not in harmony with the University's longstanding respect for Native Americans. Ignoring this situation to avoid controversy would conflict with our commitment to educate and train leaders willing to stand up for what is right no matter the consequences."
DiUlio added that neither the name nor logo adequately represented both genders, and he felt the change was necessary for Marquette to uphold its religious and educational mission.
"The dignity of the men and women who proudly represent Marquette in athletic competition, in the classroom and in society are not predicated on a nickname, but rather on character and performance."
Some Marquette students and alumni disagreed with the move. Many pointed to the dictionary definition of "Warriors" and believed the mascot could work with tweaked imagery.
The announcement that a change was coming also triggered big sales of "Warriors" T-shirts and other memorabilia.
The Milwaukee Sentinel established a "Sentinel PressLine" asking for feedback. Just 18 of the 324 who called the first day after the news broke agreed with the decision to change. Sentinel stories were filled with quotes from current and former students who opposed the retirement of "Warriors" for a litany of reasons.
One dissenting voice was Will Gouge Jr., a 19-year-old junior at Marquette in 1993 who hailed from the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation and was an Ojibwa.
He said the Warriors nickname "is not as offensive as other teams" such as the Redskins, Braves and Seminoles, but said he was hopeful that the change would encourage those teams that a change was for the best.
"I think it is a positive change that might send a message to other schools," he said.
1994: Golden Eagles or Lightning
After more than 1,500 ideas poured in from 6,000 submissions, the choice came down to two mascots: Golden Eagles or Lightning.
After a vote by students, staff and 1,000 alumni who were chosen by random sample and reached via telephone across the country, Golden Eagles won 54% of the vote. The announcement was made outside Alumni Memorial Union and was met with groans, boos and only light applause.
"It was clearly a choice between a modernistic name and a traditional name," DiUllo said. "Tradition won."
At least 11 NCAA-affiliated colleges at the time used Golden Eagles, and none used Lightning, though the Tampa Bay franchise of the NHL had been founded in 1992.
That first men's basketball game as the Golden Eagles also happened to mark a new era for the team as the first year under coach Mike Deane, who had been head coach at Siena College when that school transitioned from the Indians to the Saints.
"I'm new, so we might as well have a new nickname," Deane had joked.
"I don't think you have to worry about tradition. This will not change the championship year (in 1977) or the Sweet 16 this year (in 1994). I don't think it tarnishes any of the accomplishments of the past."
Former coach Al McGuire, who led Marquette on its magical run to the 1977 NCAA title — the only men's basketball championship in school history — said he wasn't losing sleep over the change.
"Personally, I think that sports brings out strength and respectfulness in athletes, and mascots and nicknames enhance that," McGuire said in The Milwaukee Journal in 1993. "It's an honor to be called a warrior. It's not a worthy issue unless it upsets true Native Americans. I think it's a small group that wants to pump something, and normally people run from issues like this.
"I think it's more just for conversation. It's something that sizzles, but there's no steak. If the Indians don't like it, tell them to open another casino."
It's offensive language Denning has heard before.
"I was a strong advocate and all-in at Marquette Warriors that the name shouldn't be challenged; (instead), it should be promulgated and be done even better," he said. "But my sense of self-worth was challenged at Marquette. I portrayed a Native person and, being proud of it, it became for me becoming a target of people questioning my identity. 'Well, this is who they are, they're casino people.'"
Favor for the Warriors never completely quieted.
"Branding has a real tie to personal psyche for someone," Denning said. "When (students are) coming to MU, 'Warriors' was right in front of their face. It was important, (the school) had a powerful basketball program, still does. A lot of students are still working on their personal identity. The who-am-I question is huge. It's being developed and challenged in a university setting . ... Once a person identifies with (the brand), it becomes an emotional part of their being.
"Say Marquette's going to play DePaul. It's us against them. That gets invoked in that personal development and personal identification when something goes out and challenges something they identified with."
2005: The Gold fiasco
In the early 2000s, Marquette conducted a survey of nearly 10,000 MU community members and found that 57% still found the name "Golden Eagles" boring, 55% found it weak and 52% found it too common.
In 2004, alumnus Wayne Sanders — vice chairman of the Board of Trustees —reopened the conversation during an MU commencement speech when he offered $2 million (half from himself and half from an unnamed trustee) if Marquette
changed its mascot back to Warriors before entering the Big East Conference in 2005.
Though the offer was declined, in 2005, the Board of Trustees abruptly announced it would move on from Golden Eagles and change the name to Marquette Gold.
Marquette backers were blindsided by the decision to change the mascot at all, and even more dismayed by the shift to the amorphous Gold.
This time, the backlash didn't go unheeded. A week later, Marquette announced it was re-opening the process of selecting a new mascot. "Warriors" was off the table.
"We became convinced that we live in a different era than when the Warriors name was selected in 1954," MU president Father Robert Wild said. "The perspective of time has shown us that our actions, intended or not, can offend others. We must not knowingly act in a way that others will believe, based on their experience, to be an attack on their dignity as human beings. We cannot teach one principle about respect for human dignity in our classrooms, then fail to act by the same principle when making decisions."
In the first round of voting, eligible mascots included Wolves, Spirit, Golden Avalanche, Explorers, Voyagers, Golden Knights, Blue and Gold, and Saints. But the final two mascots included the incumbent Golden Eagles and throwback "Hilltoppers," a mascot used by the school prior to 1954 as a nod to the school's first building atop a hill at the intersection of 10th and State streets.
The final vote favored the Golden Eagles. The status quo returned, leaving the fiasco as merely a bizarre blip on the MU timeline.
Progress remains slow
The Braves (for Atlanta's MLB team) and Seminoles (for Florida State athletics) have endured. But many colleges have moved away from Native American mascots and imagery since 1994, including college Division I schools such as the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Northeastern State, Bradley, Southeast Missouri State, Colgate, Miami of Ohio and St. John's.
A proposal to ban Native American mascots in Wisconsin's K-12 schools failed earlier this year but has remained a hot topic. Many schools have elected to change voluntarily, including most recently Menomonee Falls, which voted to retire its "Indians" mascot in December.
Could the Washington change represent a flashpoint for trickle-down change?
"I think it's a major blow and a major support on the leg of racism that's been kicked out, but that table of racism still stands," Denning said. "It will continue to stand as long as people have racist feelings, don't consciously work on them every day. This default position of '(Washington) caved in (because of financial pressure),' this will be justified in many areas that have race-based nicknames, mascots and logos."