In honor of April Fools day, the Northwestern State University of Louisiana Student Government Association posted a prank resolution that proposed the retirement of the Demons mascot and the adoption of the Northwestern State Meat Pies as the new face of the university.
While this was only in good fun, it brings a new question to mind: Can the NSU mascot, Victory the Demon, actually be changed without the involvement of students? After all, Vic was created by the involvement of the student body.
According to NSU Traditions, in 1923, Vic the Demon was originally introduced through an open contest to submit ideas for a university mascot for NSU. Students and faculty of NSU suggested several ideas with the popular vote ruling between the Braves or the Demons. A committee formed by the president of the university at the time then narrowed down the options to officially name all NSU athletic teams as the Demons.
The mascot contests then continued in 1984, in order to select a name for the NSU Demon mascot. According to NSU Traditions, over 300 entries from students and faculty were submitted. Ray Carney, alumnus of NSU, won with his entry that was short for the word “Victory”: Vic the Demon.
With Vic the Demon having such an extensive and deep rooted history at NSU, can he ever really go away? Could we really lose our beloved Vic? While I personally believe the possibility is unlikely and saddening, the true answer is yes.
For example, several universities went through a mascot change outside of their own volition following the implementation of a new policy by the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA).
The policy, which took effect on Feb. 1, 2006, prohibited colleges or universities with “hostile and abusive racial/ethnic/national origin mascots, nicknames or imagery” from taking part in any NCAA championship competitions, according to NCAA. The NCAA strongly advised within this policy that no universities use Native American imagery of any kind.
According to the policy, it specifically identified 18 universities across the United States which would be directly affected including Alcorn State University (Braves), Central Michigan University (Chippewas), Catawba College (Indians), Florida State University (Seminoles), Midwestern State University (Indians), University of Utah (Utes), Indiana University-Pennsylvania (Indians), Carthage College (Redmen), Bradley University (Braves), Arkansas State University (Indians), Chowan College (Braves), University of Illinois-Champaign (Illini), University of Louisiana-Monroe (Indians), McMurry University (Indians), Mississippi College (Choctaws), Newberry College (Indians), University of North Dakota (Fighting Sioux) and Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Savages).
Therefore, without the input of the student body, for the benefit of each of these school’s athletic teams, their mascots were all changed. While these examples are under an entirely different circumstance, as Vic the Demon is not offensive or hostile toward an entire ethnicity of people, the principle still stands that any university mascot can be forcibly changed.
