Just as the Marquette Gold was growing on me, the Board of Trustees met this morning and agreed to reverse its decision to change the nickname from "Golden Eagles" to "Gold." According to the press release, the stakeholders of Marquette will be able to vote on up to ten nicknames, plus a write-in option. However, the "Warriors" will not be an option, and any write-in ballots for "Warriors" or any other nickname inconsistent with the school's Catholic, Jesuit mission will be discarded. The top two nicknames will then be re-presented for a final vote. Both votes will be binding.
In this rare and momentous situation of an administration reconsidering a decision because of student and alumni feedback, the chairman of the Board of Trustees, John Bergstrom, has this to say:
“We have spent the past week listening. We heard you. The decision to change the nickname to Marquette Gold generated a response that we did not expect from Marquette stakeholders. We regret that we disappointed them and we want to respond to those concerns. We’ve established a new process today so that your voices can be heard. It’s transparent, it’s inclusive and it’s easy.”
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1. Posted by Gordon Smith on May 11, 2005 @ 12:59 | Permalink
Christine, I assume that they going with the partnership voting system -- one person, one vote -- rather than the corporate voting system -- one share, one vote. But it would be fun to see the university sell votes for donations, thus gauging the strenth of stakeholder preferences by their willingness to pay. I am not suggesting that this would be the best method, but merely noting that it's easy to have a strong preference when you don't bear any of the costs.
2. Posted by PaulNoonan on May 11, 2005 @ 13:00 | Permalink
I hope they go with "Explorers" but I'll bet they just go back to Golden Eagles.
3. Posted by Plainsman on May 11, 2005 @ 13:47 | Permalink
"Stakeholders"! Very corp law.
Prof. Smith, wouldn't willingness to pay be a troublesome measure of preference strength, given the probable wealth disparities among the Marquette stakeholders? At a minimum, some sort of weighted-CBA hoodoo would seem to be in order.
As for "Marquette Gold," it's catchy, but also suggests at least three things:
1) A service plan. If Basic Marquette isn't enough, upgrade to Marquette Gold!
2) An as-seen-on-TV hits collection.
3) An adult beverage. The Marquette Gold / The fine Colombian / make tonight a wonderful thing ...
4. Posted by Dave! on May 11, 2005 @ 15:42 | Permalink
"any other nickname inconsistent with the school's Catholic, Jesuit mission will be discarded"
And "Gold" is not inconsistent with the Jesuit mission? :)
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