MUSG Passes Resolution on Gold Nickname

MUSG passed this proposal by a margin of 20-5-2 last night:

Whereas: Marquette University Student Government’s primary responsibility is to represent the views and opinions of the student body, and;

Whereas: For the last year, the Marquette community has been engaged in dialogue over the university’s athletic nickname, and;

Whereas: Marquette University’s Board of Trustees gathered information regarding the nickname issue through focus groups, an online survey, and public forums, and;

Whereas: The Board of Trustees declined to select an athletic nickname at the December 2004 and March 2005 meetings in order to properly evaluate all this information and consult all stakeholder parties, and;

Whereas: At the May 4, 2005 meeting, the Board of Trustees declined to select either the Golden Eagles or Warriors name, and changed the university’s athletic nickname to the Gold, and;

Whereas: This decision was met with overwhelmingly negative reaction from students, faculty, staff, and alumni alike because of the overall removal of these parties’ opinions from the selection of this nickname, and;

Whereas: The MUSG senate, as the elected voice of the student body, feels the Board of Trustees made a misguided decision in selecting a nickname that is not reflective of the sentiments of the Marquette community in instituting the “Gold” nickname as an alternative to Golden Eagles and Warriors.

Therefore: We recommend that Marquette University reconsider its decision to enact the “Gold” athletic nickname before the July 1, 2005 entry into the Big East athletic conference.

Furthermore: We recommend an alternative nickname be selected that has previously been associated with Marquette University’s athletics tradition that is not the Warriors.

Furthermore: We support the creation and implementation of the new Marquette athletics monogram, and that the mascot to be selected by students in the fall of 2005 reflect a possible alternative nickname.