Go Team Go

Newberry College in South Carolina no longer has a mascot. Once a Division II school built on pride and athletic tradition, they have now been stripped of their "Indians" moniker and assumed the identity of a big, bad block letter "N". After recently being pressured by the NCAA, they became only the third team out of 1,051 active schools in the three divisions to discard their namesake because of references to indigenous peoples. The "Indians" of Newberry are no more, and it's just not fair.

Reasons they should keep their mascot:
1. The name would have been taken away much sooner if it was really that offensive.
2. When mascots are references to Native American tribes it only stirs pride and awareness for that Indian nation. (See Seminoles and Aztecs.)
3. Indian tribes are definitely more intimidating than some dumb animal. (Gamecocks, Anteaters, and Gophers...now that's just silly.)
3. Besides, how long until PETA wants ALL the animal names to be banned by the NCAA?
4. Schools like Stanford, whose "Cardinal" are represented by a tree. (If you get too close we will fall on you.)
5. Because if you're going to crack down on a small DII school, then you have to enforce it throughout the NCAA and professional ranks. And it doesn't appear that the Indians, Braves, Chiefs, Chippewas, Utes, Blackhawks, Redskins, or Warriors will be changing anytime soon.

Photo courtesy of USAToday.com