{"id":26631,"date":"2024-07-22T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-22T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/?p=26631"},"modified":"2024-07-17T11:21:34","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T16:21:34","slug":"warhawk-almanac-uw-rock-county-mascot-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/archives\/26631","title":{"rendered":"Warhawk Almanac: UW-Rock County Mascot Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Jacob Ober<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please be aware this post contains content considered harmful, offensive, and inappropriate in contemporary settings. The University Libraries strive to create an accessible, welcoming, and accountable understanding of the historic record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 1966, the University of Wisconsin-Rock County (now a satellite campus of UW-Whitewater) originally adopted the \u201cRebels\u201d as the school mascot. In 1967, controversy erupted over a proposal to add the Confederate Flag as a symbol for the university. This issue began in May 1967, when the student senate voted in favor of adopting the flag and appropriating funding to purchase it.[1]<\/a> An unnamed student proposed this on the basis that it would \u201cboost morale and spirit\u201d amongst students, as the official mascot of UW-Rock County was the rebel, and the Confederate Battle Flag represented the \u201crebellion\u201d side of the American Civil War from 1861-65.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Photo
Headline from The Matrix discussing the adoption of the Confederate Flag as a school symbol. [3]<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Some students, such as an anonymous student who wrote to the UW-Rock County publication The Matrix<\/em>, felt that the Confederate Flag was a \u201cracist symbol\u201d and proposing to adopt it as a school symbol was an \u201cimmature act.\u201d[4]<\/a> Others wrote that they could \u201csee nothing wrong\u201d with using the Confederate Flag as a school symbol, but nonetheless agreed that if a majority of students took offense to it, then it was their right to remove it as a school symbol.[5]<\/a> By January 1968, the proposal was officially dismissed by the student senate.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite dismissing the proposal to incorporate the Confederate Flag as a symbol, the school continued to refer to itself as the Rebels until the early 1980s. Throughout the 15 or so years UW\u2013Rock was known as the Rebels, the school never introduced a formal logo for the mascot.  In 1982, Kurt Eisemann, a counselor at the Skills Development Center on campus, suggested changing the mascot from the Rebels to the Unicorns, as some teams were already referring to themselves as the Unicorns rather than the Rebels.[7]<\/a> UW \u2013 Rock County eventually adopted the Unicorns as the mascot, which created further debate amongst the student body about the mascot and its representation, before becoming the Rattlers as we know them today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Photo
Photo of a rendition of the UW-Rock Unicorn logo at the gym on campus. Logo created by Cindy Cox and Linda Belloma.[8]<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> Gary Loofboro, \u201cDo Flags Make the Bigot?,\u201d The Matrix<\/em>, May 25, 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> \u201cConfederate Flag History Reviewed,\u201d The Matrix<\/em>, October 12, 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3] Ibid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/a> Gary Loofboro, \u201cDo Flags Make the Bigot?,\u201d The Matrix, <\/em>May 25, 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/a> \u201cConfederate Flag Again in Question,\u201d The Matrix, January 4, 1968.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/a> Pam Chalmers, \u201cUnicorns vs. Rebels,\u201d The Matrix, <\/em>December 13, 1983.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8] UW Rock County Unicorn, <\/em>University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, Rock County, https:\/\/digital.library.wisc.edu\/1711.dl\/LUDDJQ7UPOMD484<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Jacob Ober Please be aware this post contains content considered harmful, offensive, and inappropriate in contemporary settings. The University Libraries strive to create an accessible, welcoming, and accountable understanding of the historic record. Founded in 1966, the University … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17710,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[318635],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives-arc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17710"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26631"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26638,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26631\/revisions\/26638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uww.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}