Our discussions on university mascots and logos have been some of our fullest this semester – here's another recent story of a mascot change. Eastern New Mexico University is moving to change the name of their women's athletic teams from the Zias to the Greyhounds (apparently men's teams were changed years ago). Zias refers to the local Zia Pueblo peoples, native to the New Mexico region.
Controversy is afoot. Some in the university cite broad majority support from students, athletes, and alumni groups; others claim this initiative has taken place purposely under the radar. Still others believe this is largely a financial decision, allowing the university to align the licensing and merchandizing of both men's and women's teams. No one has reached out to the Zia pueblo on the matter of use and representation.
Here is a link to the blog post from the Chronicle of Higher Ed:
gs/ticker/jp/eastern-new-mexico-u-drops-use-of-tribal-name-for-womens-teams
And the original, local story from Portales, NM, which does a much better job of outlining the support and resistance across the university community:
http://www.pntonline.com/2015/04/24/zia-name-symbol-dropped/
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