Golden Disaster

In this episode of Golden Disaster— a five-part podcast series covering the ongoing fallout of Marquette University’s decision to change their nickname from the ‘Warriors’ to the ‘Golden Eagles’— we speak to student Emily Sexton. Emily’s a senior in the college of business administration, but she’s also an Alaskan native and proud descendent of Native American peoples. Emily speaks candidly about coming to Marquette, encountering Warriors nostalgia, embracing Milwaukee’s large Native American community, how difficult it is to be part of a minority group at Marquette, and why said difficulties almost lead her to transfer after her freshman year.

In this episode, we speak to David Denomie, Director of Student Success and Recruitment at Marquette University's Diederich College of Communication and a proud member of Wisconsin's Ojibwa tribe. Denomie speaks on the evolution of of Native American's opinions on sports teams and universities co-opting their likeness, the potential harm using Native American motifs as mascots and logos can be, the recent developments with the Cleveland Indian's Chief Wahoo logo, and why all sides need to be more patient with each other.

In this episode, we speak to Dr. James Pokrywcznski, AKA "Doc Pok," an associate professor of strategic communications at Marquette University who specializes in sports marketing and branding. Doc Pok speaks about the importance of universities and sports franchises to have a strong brand identity, why organizations like Marquette and his alma matter, the University of Illinois, have run into trouble with their own mascot history, and what campus was like back in 1993 when the name change first happened.

Episode 1 of a 5-part series exploring how and why Marquette University dropped the "Warriors" nickname in 1993. In this episode, we speak to Marquette Law alum and notable "Golden Eagles" critic Mark Kaposcius.