College of the Holy Cross to Remove Crusaders Knight Mascot over PC Concerns

The College of the Holy Cross, a Catholic higher education institution located in Worcester, Massachusetts, has had the Crusaders nickname since 1925, when it replaced a nickname referring to Native Americans. The mascot is a Knights Templar-esque knight, but the imagery apparently offends some of its student body and administrators.

Student activists claimed that the Crusaders committed atrocities in the name of religion and the nickname should be changed, but the board of trustees disagreed and voted to keep the Crusaders nickname. Then, the university president agreed to remove the knight mascot after analyzing the issue with a working group.

The student newspaper will also change its name from The Crusader to The Spire, to reflect this change in mascots and public image, which was in response to a white supremacist newspaper calling itself a similar name.

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