School of Health and Kinesiology opposes proposed mascot, fears it could lead to interscholastic sports

Amanda Blake Managing Editor

During the Feb. 13 Faculty Senate meeting, Robert Benge, dean of the School of Health and Kinesiology, asked senators to delay a vote on Student Association's (SA) proposed bear mascot so he and his employees could submit written feedback, according to a previous Accent article. After the meeting, Benge and Judy Sloane, a professor at the school, wrote a letter detailing their department’s stance against the creation of a mascot for Southern Adventist University.

They submitted the letter to Bob Young, vice president for Academic Administration, who told the Accent that the letter was shared with the Pres- ident’s Cabinet, deans and chairs and vice presidents.

Rachel Williams-Smith, dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, said the deans and chairs heard Benge’s concerns during a meeting, but, based on her recollection, no one gave any comments in response.

In an interview with the Accent, Benge described the School of Health and Kinesiology’s standpoint. He clarified that the school has never considered the duck to be its official mascot, nor did the thought of the bear replacing the duck cross his or his employees’ minds while voicing their opinions.

The duck has nothing to do with the school’s stance against the proposed bear mascot, he said.

The letter he and Sloane wrote contained three points, Benge said. First, of the nine full-time faculty in the School of Health and Kinesiology, not one approves of the mascot. Second, the implementation of a mascot does not make sense for Southern’s campus.

“Mascots are associated with interscholastic sports teams,” Benge said. “We don’t play interscholastic sports here, so we didn’t see the relevance of it.”

Third, the faculty do not believe a mascot properly conveys their perception of the school.

“We consider the School of Health and Kinesiology an aca-