Indians Mascot Controversy
In late August 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) handed down a decision calling for the eighteen universities with Native American mascots to change their names or obtain a waiver from their representative tribe for the use of the mascot name. The McMurry Indians were part of this list. The Indians nickname was chosen as a tribute to the University's first president, J.W. Hunt, who grew up on an Indian Reservation in the Indian Territory.
On May 18, 2006, the NCAA rejected McMurry's appeal to keep their nickname. The school has chosen to appeal the ruling, and indicated their intention to do so by the June 18, 2006 deadline. According to a press release, "the University’s appeal will be based on the arbitrariness of the NCAA’s decision-making process and the inconsistent results and messages that have come from the process." Other schools, such as Florida State University, have made successful appeals by garnering the endorsement of Indian tribes. Although McMurry has not actively sought an endorsement, representatives from the Kaw, Kiowa, and Comanche tribes have voiced their approval of McMurry's mascot.
In October 2006, McMurry's Board of Trustees decided that the university would no longer use any names for its athletic teams. Citing the school's 83-year history of honoring Native Americans, the school announced that in spite of no longer using names to designate athletic teams, the school traditions created to honor Native Americans will continue. The school's stadium has now been changed from Indian Stadium to Wilford Moore Stadium, as of Sunday May 13, 2007. Wilford Moore was the highest winning coach in McMurry football history. on March 11, 2011 it was announced that McMurry University's athletic teams would be known as the War Hawks. The new mascot was chosen after a nearly year-long search to find a new mascot to replace the former Indian mascot, which had been taken away by the NCAA in 2006. The war hawk is meant to represent pride, courage and fierce competition for McMurry's athletic teams.
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