College mascots are supposed to pump the crowd up during a college sports game. They are associated with school-spirit, fun and good times. But what about racism?

Well, actually, yes.

The use of Native America has become a serious issue. American sports have a long history of ‘playing Indian since the 1700s.

Native American named sports teams have come under attack as derogatory and racist.

According to Peter Roby, former director of the Center for the Study of Sports in Society at Northeastern University, the issue as an organized public debate dates back to 1968, when the National Congress of American Indians called for the elimination of mascots and nicknames that stereotype Native Americans.

The NCAA has adopted a policy prohibiting colleges or universities with “hostile or abusive mascots, nicknames or imagery” from hosting any NCAA championship competitions.

And many intercollegiate teams, including, in 1994, St. John’s University (previously the Redmen now the Red Storm), have elected to drop their Native American nicknames. For example, Marquette University changed their team name from the Warriors to the Golden Eagles in 1994 and Stonehill College also changed their mascot from the Chieftain to the Skyhawk “out of respect to Native American culture.”

Native American groups, among others, argue that this country doesn’t always accept responsibility for its own history as swiftly and thoroughly as it should. Racism isn’t always blatant. It often creeps in, in subtle ways that are difficult to shake.

Do you think Native American mascot and team names are racist and should be abolished or do you think that they should be preserved for historical purposes?

When you think of college mascots you probably think of lions, tigers and bears, oh my!

In fact the most popular and common college mascots at four-year colleges are: eagles, tigers, bulldogs, panthers, knights, lions, bears, hawks, cougars and pioneers.

All these mascots signify strength, fierceness, pride and intimidation.

But there are some college mascots that evoke the opposite. We have compiled a list of some of the funniest and strangest college mascots.

The University of California-Santa Cruz is home to Sammy the Banana Slug. A banana slug is a slimy yellow mollusc found near the northern California coastal community of Santa Cruz. They adopted the slug as a mascot as a commentary on the overemphasis of athletics at many universities.

You can find the Super Frog the Horned Frog at Texas Christian University. TCU has been using the horned toad as a mascot since 1897. It’s the state reptile of Texas and it is traditionally believed to have ancient powers. The mascot’s name used to be Addy the All-American  frog, but became Super Frog in 1979.

And how can we forget about the Artie the fighting Artichoke. Doesn’t he sound scary? Especially if you don’t like to eat your vegetables. Well, it’s like this: during the 1970s, students at SCC were furious because they felt too much money was being spent to make the school a junior college sports powerhouse. So, when student government was asked to hold an election to name the mascot, they ran three choices: the artichoke, the rutabaga, and the scoundrel. Artie won. The college called the election null and void, but the artichoke stuck around long after the political fight ended.

The North Carolina School of Arts has a fighting pickle for their mascot. The pickle may be a tribute to a pickle company that used to donate money to the school or may be a form of protest to the school’s 1972 search for a militaristic school mascot name and that didn’t fly with the students who were protesting the Vietnam war. The North Carolina School of Arts got themselves into a pickle didn’t they?

Before you laugh at these college mascots completely, don’t forget that they’ve got a bunch of strong, in shape athletes behind them.

When most of us think of college mascot names we think of animals that are fierce and strong like cougars, bears or wolf.

But have you ever heard of the banana slug, the fighting artichoke or the fighting pickle?

This week well tell you all about mascots from the most popular names to the strangest ones. 

But don’t think it’s all going to be cheers. College mascots have got their fair share of boos for taking on racist names. In fact, many mascots and college teams have changed identities moving away from racist Native American connotations like the Chiefs or the Redmen. We’ll discuss the issue of racism and mascots.  

If you are going to go to college next year, you’re going to want to know your team colors, their mascot and where they come from.

On your marks, get ready, get set, go!