License to Thrive

What's In A Name?

The following excerpt comes from a letter from Diane Pavelin to the "License to Thrive" website:

"Right now, there’s a major battle going on in the Midwest.  It didn’t start out as one, but rather as a small fight over the right for women athletes to call themselves what they want.  It has grown into more than that, into a struggle over Title IX itself.  It’s taking place on the campus of Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill.  To understand just what’s at stake, there needs to be an understanding of some history.

Back in 1927, football coach Ray “Rock” Hanson, a decorated former Marine, requested and was granted permission by Congress and Dept. of the Navy to use the US Marine Corps offical seal (the eagle, the globe, and the anchor), mascot (bulldog), and name “Leathernecks” by the Western Illinois’ men’s teams.  To this day, Western Illinois Univ. is the only school in the country to be awarded this privilege.

In 1977, 5 years after the passage of Title IX, Western Illinois granted the women’s Athletic Department permission to name the women’s teams by another name.  A county-wide contest was held, a vote cast, and the name “Westerwinds” was picked.   Western Illinois became one of few, if not the only school in the country to have separate names for both their men’s and women’s athletic teams.

Around 1995, the men’s and women’s athletic departments were combined.  The “Westerwinds” logo was eliminated, with budget cuts as the reason given for the elimination.  Since then, the women’s teams have been forced to use the Western Illinois “Rocky” logo (which includes the bulldog mascot), on their uniforms and warmups, in their media guides, on their websites, etc., even though the women are still called “Westerwinds”. 

Last fall, a proposal was brought by the Athletic Department, requesting the women’s name “Westerwinds” be eliminated and all women’s teams be known as "Leathernecks”.  The University President ordered a survey to be made available online to gather public opinion on the matter.  He would then take the survey results into consideration in making his decision, which would be announced sometime this spring.

I was angered when I found out about the proposal.  After the “Westerwinds” logo was eliminated without any notification to or imput from those outside the Athletic Dept., I wasn’t about to let the “Westerwinds” name be eliminated without a fight."

Pavelin has continued the fight, working with others to initiate a legal battle with WIU and its athletic department n regard to Title IX compliance and gender discrimination issues including the elimination of women's athletic teams and the unequitable marketing and promotion of the women's teams' "Westerwinds" logo.  Pavelin indicated that her efforts are meant to end discrimination not only against women athletes, but against all women staff and students on the basis of gender.

In December, Pavelin filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), outlining the various possible Title IX violations at the university.  Since that time, she has been contacted by the OCR, who has found enough information to warrant an investigation of Western Illinois for Title IX violations.