Mailbag on “Gold”

The “Gold” debacle has resulted in several “letters to the editor” giving reader’s reactions. First, Ph.D. student Regis DiGiacomo recounts a fiasco similar to “Gold:”

I wanted to share my comments on Marquette’s new name. I’m an alumnus and returning student (PhD). This has got to rank right up there with Ween-ergies. I’m a retired engineer from GE Med but I was part of the original Marquette Electronics long before GE bought it. When GE took over, they decided to rename it GE Medical Systems Healthcare Information Technologies (GEMSHIT). They spent weeks deciding on the new name, and when it was announced it took the employee audience about fifteen seconds to recognize the acronym – the place howled with laughter. Within a week GE changed it to GEMS-IT, getting the ‘H’ out of there.

Alumna Judith Santilli Hornick sends the following:

Just read your posting about the Marquette GOLD...what does that mean??? As a 1961 alumna of the College of Journalism, I’m thinking that the last dollar has been sent to a university without a spine!

If the rest of the world is to buy into the thinking of these fuzzyheaded Trustees, then God help us if the bird watchers of the world discover that the names of their favorite winged creatures are being used scurrilously on the jerseys of athletic teams. How safe are the Cardinals, Falcons, Hawks, Orioles; woe be to those conservationists who want to save the Bears and don’t let the SPCA find out someone is a Husky or Badger. When did the Native Americans become sole proprietors of the word “warrior.” Can’t there be warriors without headdresses and feathers? Whoops, the Vikings could be in danger too.

As for our great university and its bunch of politically correct namby-pamby board of Trustees...I have nothing but contempt and disgust. May they collect their stipends and congratulate themselves for bringing our once proud University into the headlines and opening lines for comedians in night clubs and bars nationwide. Never before have so many laughed so hard at so few!

Indeed!

Finally, Neil Kleemann observes:

Maybe the theory behind the poor decision of changing the nickname/mascot to “Gold” . . . pertains to the Marquette University Students . . . who are like little gold nuggets worth about $100,000 each to the University coffers.