The university has officially announced the retirement of the Pioneer nickname. This outcome reflects the persistence of a community that refused to accept a legacy defined by exclusion. We will remain observant as they finalize the transition to a name that truly honors our collective values.
May 9, 2018
Final supporters
The time has come for DU to embrace change in accordance with its mission of inclusive excellence and its promise to be be "a private university dedicated to the public good" by defining itself with a new nickname, as deeply desired by the student body.
LetsGoDU, a blog ran by DU alumni to cover the university's sports and advocate for the abandoned mascot Boone, reported that on January 16th, the university's Board chair, Doug Scrivner, emailed the alumni to tell them that DU's "Pioneer" nickname is going to stay, despite not only the Native Student Alliance's request to change the name, but the wishes of the student body for a more representative nickname. The email stated, “I want to be clear: the Board and the senior leadership of the University have no plans, no efforts and no intentions of changing our nickname. We proudly claim the name Pioneers in all its dimensions. While our history, like that of all institutions, is complicated and reasonable minds can differ in their assessments, we will endeavor to continue to explore the good and the bad, but in all cases we will own and learn from our history. And being Pioneers is part of both our history and our future.”
We members at NSA are both disappointed and outraged at this decision.
The word “pioneer” is defined as one who is the first to explore and settle a new country or region. To Indigenous people, the word is associated with Europeans Americans who forcibly colonized Indigenous peoples. It represents the violent history of westward expansion, settler colonialism, oppression, genocide, and the systematic violent displacement of Native people from their lands. “Pioneer” also represents the history that DU was a part of. Founder John Evans was complicit in the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864, the same year that DU was founded. In the findings from the John Evans Study Committee, it was stated that John Evans is culpable for the Sand Creek Massacre. This is exactly in the spirit of a pioneer. Pioneers killed Indigenous people and stole their land. Pioneers do not represent the spirit of the student body at the University of Denver and it must be changed. DU has said they are dedicated to inclusive excellence. They have promised to make up for their wrong doing to Indigenous people in the Denver community. Yet still, they refuse to show any action behind their words. They continue to participate in modern-day violence against Native communities.
This is not just an issue for Native students on campus, but for the whole DU community. The university is lacking school spirit because it lacks the accurate imagery that represents us to the broader community. The student body wants a mascot that represents them — that they can be proud of. A small number of alumni are disregarding the entire student body by fighting to keep the nickname.
For too long Indigenous students on campus have been ignored, forgotten, and at the receiving end of DU's complicity in violence against our people.
Please add your signature to this petition to demand that DU change the Pioneer nickname to a name the reflects the university's values, the true spirit of the student body, and that respects Indigenous people.
Signed,
Grace Carson
Ontario Duley
Raelene Woody
Autumn Raynne
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
February 13, 2018
Reached 100 supporters
February 7, 2018
72 Comments
I was accepted to DU and ultimately made my decision NOT to attend because of the racist mascot and legacy. The university has demonstrated time after time that administration is RACIST. I'm more than happy to not have attended a university that fails to acknowledge their Native American and Indigenous students.
I’m a DU alum, gave them over $100,000 for my 2 year education, and I am disgraced that senior leadership and board members are so stuck in their immense privilege that they will 1. disregard history and 2. Refuse to hear the needs of their students.
The romanticism of the "pioneer" and western frontier is an antiquated sentiment that reflects the same attitudes qnd doctrines of colonizers that pushed for western expansion. Educational institutions have a responsibility to do better than indoctrinating youth with western paradigms and contributing to erasure and ultimate structural oppression of Indigenous peoples. #changethename
For the Board chair to say, "We proudly claim the name Pioneers in all its dimensions," is to say that he embraces a history of genocide and oppression. It's wrong on all levels. Time to get with the program, DU.
As a Navajo, Winnebago and Menominee wiman and DU Alumni, it was uncomfortable to be a "pioneer" knowing how that word has only caused hurt and pain to the Native community. Its time to change the name.
Wake up and get out of your campus bubble. Stop with the "inclusive" BS. You aren't 'including' the majority in your opinions and you have already lost. You people are wasting your time. DU has already decided that the nickname is not going to change, and they are 100% right. The Pioneers built the school, the City and the State. The nickname has been there for 90+ years, and vast majority of people in the DU community and the city do not find the name offensive at all, as there is far more good associated with Pioneers than bad. All you are doing is pissing off your classmates and making them resent you. Find a different thing to complain about, and stop wasting everyones time.
Change the name! ✊
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The university has officially announced the retirement of the Pioneer nickname. This outcome reflects the persistence of a community that refused to accept a legacy defined by exclusion. We will remain observant as they finalize the transition to a name that truly honors our collective values.
May 9, 2018
Final supporters
The time has come for DU to embrace change in accordance with its mission of inclusive excellence and its promise to be be "a private university dedicated to the public good" by defining itself with a new nickname, as deeply desired by the student body.
LetsGoDU, a blog ran by DU alumni to cover the university's sports and advocate for the abandoned mascot Boone, reported that on January 16th, the university's Board chair, Doug Scrivner, emailed the alumni to tell them that DU's "Pioneer" nickname is going to stay, despite not only the Native Student Alliance's request to change the name, but the wishes of the student body for a more representative nickname. The email stated, “I want to be clear: the Board and the senior leadership of the University have no plans, no efforts and no intentions of changing our nickname. We proudly claim the name Pioneers in all its dimensions. While our history, like that of all institutions, is complicated and reasonable minds can differ in their assessments, we will endeavor to continue to explore the good and the bad, but in all cases we will own and learn from our history. And being Pioneers is part of both our history and our future.”
We members at NSA are both disappointed and outraged at this decision.
The word “pioneer” is defined as one who is the first to explore and settle a new country or region. To Indigenous people, the word is associated with Europeans Americans who forcibly colonized Indigenous peoples. It represents the violent history of westward expansion, settler colonialism, oppression, genocide, and the systematic violent displacement of Native people from their lands. “Pioneer” also represents the history that DU was a part of. Founder John Evans was complicit in the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864, the same year that DU was founded. In the findings from the John Evans Study Committee, it was stated that John Evans is culpable for the Sand Creek Massacre. This is exactly in the spirit of a pioneer. Pioneers killed Indigenous people and stole their land. Pioneers do not represent the spirit of the student body at the University of Denver and it must be changed. DU has said they are dedicated to inclusive excellence. They have promised to make up for their wrong doing to Indigenous people in the Denver community. Yet still, they refuse to show any action behind their words. They continue to participate in modern-day violence against Native communities.
This is not just an issue for Native students on campus, but for the whole DU community. The university is lacking school spirit because it lacks the accurate imagery that represents us to the broader community. The student body wants a mascot that represents them — that they can be proud of. A small number of alumni are disregarding the entire student body by fighting to keep the nickname.
For too long Indigenous students on campus have been ignored, forgotten, and at the receiving end of DU's complicity in violence against our people.
Please add your signature to this petition to demand that DU change the Pioneer nickname to a name the reflects the university's values, the true spirit of the student body, and that respects Indigenous people.
Signed,
Grace Carson
Ontario Duley
Raelene Woody
Autumn Raynne
Updates
Reached 250 supporters
February 13, 2018
Reached 100 supporters
February 7, 2018
72 Comments
By listening to a minority of people (who are largely upper-class whites) over the voices of marginalized people, DU is showing that “inclusive excellence” is nothing more than a lie. I chose to come here twice (BA 2013, MSW 2018); I know we can do better.
I was accepted to DU and ultimately made my decision NOT to attend because of the racist mascot and legacy. The university has demonstrated time after time that administration is RACIST. I'm more than happy to not have attended a university that fails to acknowledge their Native American and Indigenous students.
I’m a DU alum, gave them over $100,000 for my 2 year education, and I am disgraced that senior leadership and board members are so stuck in their immense privilege that they will 1. disregard history and 2. Refuse to hear the needs of their students.
The romanticism of the "pioneer" and western frontier is an antiquated sentiment that reflects the same attitudes qnd doctrines of colonizers that pushed for western expansion. Educational institutions have a responsibility to do better than indoctrinating youth with western paradigms and contributing to erasure and ultimate structural oppression of Indigenous peoples. #changethename
For the Board chair to say, "We proudly claim the name Pioneers in all its dimensions," is to say that he embraces a history of genocide and oppression. It's wrong on all levels. Time to get with the program, DU.
As a Navajo, Winnebago and Menominee wiman and DU Alumni, it was uncomfortable to be a "pioneer" knowing how that word has only caused hurt and pain to the Native community. Its time to change the name.
Wake up and get out of your campus bubble. Stop with the "inclusive" BS. You aren't 'including' the majority in your opinions and you have already lost. You people are wasting your time. DU has already decided that the nickname is not going to change, and they are 100% right. The Pioneers built the school, the City and the State. The nickname has been there for 90+ years, and vast majority of people in the DU community and the city do not find the name offensive at all, as there is far more good associated with Pioneers than bad. All you are doing is pissing off your classmates and making them resent you. Find a different thing to complain about, and stop wasting everyones time.
Change the name! ✊
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By listening to a minority of people (who are largely upper-class whites) over the voices of marginalized people, DU is showing that “inclusive excellence” is nothing more than a lie. I chose to come here twice (BA 2013, MSW 2018); I know we can do better.