By Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
Springfield College has always abided by its Humanics philosophy, which students, faculty and staff have heard so many times – spirit, mind and body. Throughout the school’s history, however, the mascot has been in flux. Before Springfield settled on “Pride” in 1995, its mascot went by names such as the Stubby Christians, Indians, Gymnasts, Maroons and Chiefs.
The school adopted the name Chiefs in 1967, after it won a competition the previous year when the college decided it needed a better mascot than “Maroons.” However, because the term Chief did not encapsulate women’s sports, the women’s athletics teams continued to use the old name of Maroons.
The problem was, each of the names were insensitive to groups of people.
The term “Chiefs” – along with the mascot depicting a Native American – was offensive to the Native Americans and their culture and rituals. “Maroons” has roots that can be tied back to escaped slaves in the 16th century.
This was eventually brought to the attention of the President of the school at the time, Randolph Bromery. A council was formed at the end of the spring semester in 1993 to discuss the process of changing the name, with representatives from the student body, alumni, faculty, administrators, the athletic department and teacher-coaches.
One of the teacher-coaches was Kathleen Mangano, the Springfield College softball coach at the time, and a member of the graduating class of 1986.
“[The council] gathered a ton of data,” Mangano said. “We brought in a variety of different people to gather that historical data, and then there was an extensive survey that was administered to alums, students and everyone else on campus. Based on what we got back from the survey, we narrowed down potential names.”
The committee created a list of six different criteria that the new name had to meet. The name had to not be offensive to any particular group in regard to minority status or gender, represent the school and the school’s mission, represent both male and female athletes, be non-violent, allow the athletes and coaches to feel a sense of pride when referred to by the name, and it had to be appropriately symbolized.
Pride was one of the names that fit all the criteria, but it did not seem to resonate when students and alumni were polled about the name change.
The leader among both students and alums was “Pioneers,” with “Spirits” close behind. But ultimately, they didn’t fit as well as the Pride.
“Spirit would have focused on only one of the key components of our triangle,” Mangano said.
Pioneers seemed to have much more support from students and alums alike, and was the favorite in the surveys within the committee. It seemed like the school was destined to be called the Springfield Pioneers, but for some reason, it never came to fruition.
“I don’t know why Pioneers didn’t win out. The reason may have been creating a logo,” Mangano said. “The Pride allowed us to have a physical mascot. How do you have a Pioneer? What does the pioneer look like?”
When the Pride was announced, the school, including Bromery and former athletic director Edward Bilik, were prepared for the backlash from students and alumni, but only from one side of the group.
Because the men’s and women’s teams went by different names, the way they felt about change was drastically different.
“[The male student-athletes] took a lot of pride in being a Chief,” Mangano said.
Because of that, resistance to the name change was strong. Alumni sent emails condemning the school for succumbing to “political correctness,” students unenthusiastically showed up to rallies to raise morale for the name, and held their own protests outside President Bromery’s house on Alden Street demanding that the school change back to the Chiefs.
According to Mangano, the name change had a much more positive reception from the women’s sports teams.
“I don’t think I know one person in all my tenure as a student-athlete and as a teacher-coach here that was proud to be a maroon. From my lens, I can’t recall one person,” Mangano said. “When I used to coach, the scoreboard would say “Opponent: Maroons.” I was elated to see “Opponent: Pride:” when the scoreboard updated.”
One of the methods the school used to counteract the massive amount of support for the Chiefs was by trying to get the students to learn why it was being changed.
Springfield brought in Native American leader Vernon Bellecourt to educate the student body on why the term Chiefs or other Native American names were offensive. According to an old edition of The Springfield Student, Bellecourt visited campus in April 1997 for a discussion with a large group of students to inform them about Native American stereotypes, and use the situation as a teaching point for students.
It was successful in that regard, as the student push for the Chiefs to be reinstated fizzled out. A couple of months later, the Pride became the official long-term solution for the school’s mascot.
“[Administration] wanted [the students] to hear voices,” Mangano said. “They wanted to educate and help people understand, so bringing in a Native American to help them was important.
The Pride name is synonymous with Springfield College, and students can be seen sporting the name across their chests.
English professor Andrew Kozikowski, who played on the men’s soccer team during his time as an undergraduate student at Springfield College, said the love for the school has never wavered despite the name change.
“It’s not about the name. It’s about the people involved. It’s about the traditions and history of the school, and that hasn’t changed,” Kozikowski said. “My blood runs maroon and white. I still have a passion for the school, and it’s been 43 years since I graduated. The name hasn’t diminished [the love] for the school in any way.”
Springfield College was actually proactive in facilitating change, removing the Chiefs name before the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)’s decision to phase out names it considered offensive and hostile toward Native Americans in 2005.
This could be seen as self-satisfaction for the school, that they were ahead of the curve and identified the flaws within the name before a majority of the country did.
“Out of the respect for others, we were proactive,” Mangano said.
Kozikowski had a similar view on the change.
“I always think that it’s better to be proactive rather than reactive,” Kozikowski said. “I think it’s always better to be forward thinking, and I think that sort of exemplifies the beauty of the school in a way.”
In the end, it seems the name Pride has been a success, both as a representation of the school and also the athletic programs on campus.
Around campus, flags, signage and various gear showing the “Springfield College Pride” is so common, showing why Pride represents the school.
“I think that it symbolizes that we have a lot of Pride in who we are [as a school],” Mangano said. “Also, all the athletic programs have a tremendous amount of Pride in their programs.”
The Pride also unified the school in a way that no other name ever did.
With two mascots, there was not a real sense of bond between the men’s and women’s athletics teams like there is today, and one group being referred to as the Maroons and the other as the Chiefs certainly played a role in that divide.
“[It unified the school] in the sense that we weren’t two separate mascots anymore, the Maroons vs the Chiefs,” Mangano said. “We were all the Springfield College Pride.”
Photo Courtesy of Nick Pantages/The Student.