SELINSGROVE – Change is coming at Susquehanna University. Monday, the Board of Trustees voted to replace the Crusader nickname and mascot. University President Dr. L. Jay Lemons made that recommendation to the board, after consulting with hundreds of alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends of the University.
The board concurred that this decision was in Susquehanna’s best interest moving forward. In June, the board asked Dr. Lemons to investigate whether or not the ‘Crusader’ name was offensive. Lemons joined with Provost Linda McMillin to engage in a listening tour with alumni of the University. A survey was also sent to thousands of people asking their opinion on the matter.
Jenny Ruth Partica of Selinsgrove graduated from SU in 2004 and supports the decision, “As a practicing Christian, I don’t necessarily find it offensive. It’s just not something that I would like to be connected to, that I want to associate myself with. I know it’s a historical figure, they did what they did, but I feel like it’s hundreds of years later and it’s time to move on.”
Partica said she’s excited for a new mascot, “My sister is a graduate of Syracuse University and everyone in my family owns sweatshirts and stickers with Otto the Orange on it. I would just really love it if we as a University had something that everybody could rally behind and really support. You just cant do that with the Crusader.”
Art Bowen from Susquehanna’s Class of 1965 feels indifferent about the change, “I never thought of Crusaders as anything but a rider on the horse, where as some people with deeper thought processes would want to do the politically correct thing and change it. I don’t mind the Cleveland Indians, but some people think that it’s not good. So I’m really indifferent to the change.”
Mark Radecke was chaplain at Susquehanna University for 16 ½ years before retiring two years ago. He supports the Board of Trustees decision, but also respects others who stand for keeping the Crusader name, “The Board of Trustees is not a monolific group and they are certainly not a rubber stamp. These are people who many of them are alums and parents of alums as well as current faculty and students, who have varying degrees of investment in the place’s history, so I’m sure there were a variety of voices. I think they are charged with leading the institution, especially as we continue to try to become more diverse.”
Radecke said, “We were priviledged to hear from voices of people who said, do you think you would send your kid to a University whose mascot was a Jihadist? You try to look at a situation from somebody else’s standpoint and say, I never thought of it that way and that could be pretty offensive.”
On WKOK Sunrise today, we had an extensive interview with Lemons and McMillin and that interview will be posted online at www.wkok.com. (Ali Stevens)