ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 13, 1996 TAG: 9604150050
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: EMORY
SOURCE: Associated Press
THE WASP IGNITES tensions at the school, with African Americans reporting torched fliers, intimidation.
Students at Emory & Henry College who support changing the school's mascot from a wasp to avoid confusion with the acronym for ``white Anglo-Saxon Protestant'' say the issue has sparked a racial backlash.
Members of the college African-American Society say the private Methodist college needs a ``more inclusive'' nickname.
They complain their handbills campaigning for a change have been vandalized and that they've received threatening telephone calls. Society members said college officials are downplaying these and other examples of racism on campus.
``Most African Americans feel uncomfortable about approaching the administration about racial incidents,'' sophomore Reggie Williams said.
College officials said this week that relatively few problems have marred an otherwise civil debate about the mascot.
College President Tom Morris wrote a memorandum March 26 to students and faculty, reminding them that intimidation, threats and rudeness have no place on campus. ``Acts of personal harm and property destruction are illegal and will be dealt with accordingly,'' Morris wrote.
The debate began about a month ago when some students complained publicly that the mascot is too often mistaken for the acronym WASP. Williams said guests and speakers on campus sometimes misunderstand the mascot name.
Then some students received threatening calls, which one college administrator described as pranks.
Two students, including Williams, also reported that handbills were vandalized on their dormitory doors. The fliers were burned, Dean of Students Anthony Campbell said. Williams compared the incident to cross-burning, saying it was a similar attempt to intimidate him.
``We don't know that these incidents were directly related, but they happened soon after this [debate] came out,'' Campbell said.
``But the real story here is the students, overall, are handling it very well,'' the dean said. ``The students are discussing the issues with respect to all sides.''
The college has offered four forums at which students shared their viewpoints and learned about the history of the mascot, which dates to 1921 and is intended to represent a swarm of wasps.
Other mascot names have been discussed, Williams said, such as ``the Swarm.''
LENGTH: Medium: 54 linesby CNB