Whitman College Drops 'Imperialistic'Christian Missionaries Mascot
"We are going to work to create a new, official mascot for everyone to celebrate.”
4.26.2016
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Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington has joined the growing list of colleges and universities that seek to expunge their own histories from the record book. The school wants to drop its missionaries mascot because it isn't inclusive and reeks of imperialism.
The private liberal arts school and its sports teams are named after two Christian missionaries, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, who came to the Walla Walla Valley in 1836. Their mission was to teach the Cayuse Indians how to read and write in their native language. As the Seattle Times reports, by 1847, almost all of the Cayuse children and half the adults fell victim to a measles epidemic. The Whitmans were killed, along with other settlers, shortly afterward by the remaining Cayuse, an event known as the Whitman Massacre. The college was built to honor their legacy.
The Whitman College administration made the decision after surveying alumni, bringing a decades-long debate over the mascot to an end.
"Campus officials said the Missionaries’ mascot was considered non-inclusive, imperialistic and incorrectly implied that Whitman was a religious school," the report states.
Not only that, the report continues, many felt the team name wasn't "terribly intimidating and often mocked." The administration is said to be currently working on a replacement mascot.
President Kathleen Murray said:
"Now that our community has spoken, we are going to work to create a new, official mascot for everyone to celebrate… While important, we all know that the mascot is not Whitman College’s defining element."
Murray said to help counter the loss of history in light of removing the imagery, the college will add a new section to its orientation to help new students have "a greater understanding of the Whitmans."
Though most alumni represented in the survey were all for getting rid of the Missionaries name, some weren't as happy. A 1995 graduate, Graham G. Storey, told the Times:
“If the sports teams and the school didn’t feel the name was fearsome enough, then change it. But the given justification for changing the mascot is a misguided act of atonement to make up for some perceived imperialistic stain that Marcus Whitman engaged in 180 years ago. As far as my future with the college is concerned; I am done. No more donations.”
Whitman College, who can boast such famous alumni as Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and Adam "Batman" West, has a statement on diversity published to its website:
Diversity is fundamentally important to the character and mission of Whitman College. Diversity enriches our community and enhances intellectual and personal growth. We seek to provide a challenging liberal arts experience for our students that prepares them for citizenship in the global community. By sustaining a diverse community, we strive to ensure that all individuals are valued and respected and that intellectual and personal growth are enriched because of our differences.
Unless those differences include Christian missionaries.
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