Marquette Can’t Stifle “Warriors”

Marquette, which ignored student and alumni opinion (and at least half of the faculty) to drop the “Warriors” sports nickname, can’t seem to shake the fact that “Warriors” continues to be vastly more popular than the tepid but politically correct “Golden Eagles.”

At the halftime ceremonies of the game Saturday night, the 1977 Warriors team was honored.

The public address announcer did contortions to avoid saying “1977 Warriors,” using terms like “1977 championship team.” But Bo Ellis blew the plan all to hell when he took the floor and said “We are true Warriors, and we are Warriors Forever.” The crowd went wild.

Cracked Sidewalks has the video.

And at the warm-up for the game, ESPN’s Digger Phelps (former coaching rival of Al McGuire) led a chant of “Let’s go, Warriors.”

And of course, we have blogged on the student who was ordered not to wear a headdress to the game, under the threat of having it confiscated and being thrown out of the Bradley Center.

Even the Marquette Tribune, which has a history of siding with the University when conservative students are shut up, objected, noting:

College of Arts & Sciences freshman Dan O’Connell was told by Jim McMahon, dean of Residence Life, he might be kicked out of the game if he wore his headdress. O’Connell said he wore the “Warrior” emblazoned headdress at each home men’s game this season.

Yet halftime’s commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the program’s 1977 national championship found Bo Ellis saying “Warriors forever” to raucous cheering and chanting. To our knowledge, Bo Ellis wasn’t asked to leave the Bradley Center. But then again, he’s not a student and has benefited the university over the years. Still, it’s an unfair double standard.

Bo Ellis: senior on the 1977 national championship team, team MVP, three-time All-American and former Marquette men’s basketball assistant coach for a total of 12 years. Dan O’Connell: paid $55 for Fanatic season tickets and pays tens of thousands of dollars to attend his parent’s alma mater.

No one hushed Ellis, and rightly so. He was celebrating the 30th anniversary of his team’s championship. And though too many at this university overhype the importance of what we call ourselves, Marquette is wrong to keep a student (legacy, no less) from wearing a homemade headdress to cheer on his team. What’s next Marquette? Making students remove their “Warriors Forever” T-shirts?

Given the arrogance of the administration, the answer is simple: yes, that’s probably next.