The University of Denver is once again focusing on political correctness issues, which by no means is anything new. Back when I worked at the University of Denver Bookstore as the Finance Manager, this was always a hot-button issue. When Robert Coombe became chancellor in 2005, the officers of the Staff Advisory Council - a group of volunteers from various departments who work to enhance conditions for the staff - presented Coombe with an Indian headdress and peace pipe, with a message of "hail to the chief." They were immediately reprimanded and sent to diversity training, where I assume they were given a well deserved beating. And soon after this, the university eliminated Boone, the school mascot, a cartoon character of a pioneer wearing a coonskin cap. Not only was Boone not gender neutral, but it was also a pioneer.
The Pioneers, by the way, is the name of the school's sports teams, and so it should come as no surprise that the university now wants to eliminate that name, too. Evidently pioneers are no longer politically correct, and even the very mention of them needs to be eliminated. I know that this country treated the Indians disgracefully, but I personally don't think the solution at this date is to villify the pioneers, who settled the west. If it were up to me, I would let the sports teams remain The Pioneers, bring back Boone, and set up a branch of the school's famed social work department at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in nearby South Dakota, which is one the poorest places in the country, and needs all the help it can get. I doubt the university will do this, since it seems to prefer appearance over substance. On the bright side, the new Community Commons Building, seen in the photo on the right, is about finished, and I hope to meet the new chancellor at the grand opening and tell him all my ideas. I'm sure he can't wait.
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