SEATTLE (AP) -- Out with the Chieftains, in with the Redhawks.
That was the order of the day Thursday at Seattle University with a pep rally that drew several hundred students to celebrate a replacement for a mascot that offended area Indian tribal leaders. A man wearing the new costume danced and threw miniature basketballs into the crowd.For some time the Chieftain emblem, adopted in 1938, has not been used on uniforms, nor has the Jesuit-run school fielded a mascot in recent years. Previously the school's teams were called the Maroons.
The University of Utah, incidentally, continues to be nicknamed the Utes, which is a name of an an Indian tribe from the area. Utah has had a Redhawk mascot the past several seasons, however.