in two words: they want to remove historical mascot from the gym because want to please Hispanic people. I think is a an example of liberal paranoia.



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College erases history during 85th anniversary
Executive team decided to remove the Ranger mascot from the gym floor.
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By Melody Mendoza

Published: Friday, January 21, 2011


Kinesiology Adjunct Stephen Reyna's fencing 1 class meets on the refurbished gym floor at 11:45 a.m. Thursday in Gym 1 of Candler. The ranger mascot was removed when the floor was refinished over the holidays.
Ranger mascot San Antonio College

File photo

San Antonio College's mascot, The Ranger, is surrounded by coats and a bag from the fifties. The coat, from swimming instructor Rondi Wayland's brother, and the women's tennis shirt, from former athletic director Bill Candler's wife, are from the 1950's. The bag is from the baseball team that existed at this campus from 1977 to 1983. The jump suit top is from former athletic director Bill Candler himself.

The college executive team decided last fall to remove the image of a Ranger, the college's mascot since 1927, from the floor in Gym 1 of Candler Physical Education Center during a $12,000 refurbishing over the holiday break.

"We are moving away from that," President Robert Zeigler said of the Ranger mascot.

Zeigler, who has a Ph.D. in history, said the historical reputation of the Texas Rangers and their interaction with blacks and Hispanics is not positive.

Zeigler said refurbishing cost was $12,000 spent with tax note money or money from a general upgrade and maintenance fund.

The executive team is made up of Zeigler, vice presidents and college deans.

He said, "Since the image was already going to be taken off, we decided we wouldn't put it back."

A picture of the Ranger on the gym floor will be hung in the gym because it is a historic part of the college, Zeigler said.

Kinesiology and dance Chair Bill Richardson said he heard the reason the image was taken off of the gym floor was because Hispanics were opposed to this college being affiliated with the Ranger.

Zeigler said about half of the college's population is Hispanic and Texas Rangers have a negative historic reputation.

The Texas Department of Public Safety website dates the formation of The Texas Rangers law enforcement organization to 1835 when they were charged with protecting the frontier against marauding Indians. They are the oldest law enforcement organization on the North American continent with statewide jurisdiction, according to the website.

DPS history states that the darkest period was during Reconstruction between 1865-73 when Texas Rangers functioned as state police enforcing unpopular carpetbagger laws.

Also, many, have criticized the Rangers' actions toward Hispanics on the border during the Mexican Revolution in 1910.

Zeigler said he has never gotten a student complaint or conducted a survey of students, but said he's gotten anecdotal comments. He did not provide any examples.

The college mascot controversy dates back to the 1990s, but it has never been changed, Zeigler said.

The Ranger reported the Student Government Association president and student life director approached Zeigler April 2, 2007, with the idea of changing the college mascot, but nothing came of it.

In response, The Ranger reported April 13, 2007, Zeigler said the college's mascot would remain the Ranger.

Zeigler said Thursday, "I don't know if I would see it (the Ranger) as our mascot."

He said even when he attended school here in 1960 and taught here in 1971, the Ranger was not on anything else but the gym floor.

The ranger was probably the mascot at some point," Zeigler said. "I don't know if it was officially adopted — not that I'm aware of."

The Ranger reported April 13, 2007, that the Ranger has been the college's mascot since 1927, two years after the college opened. Candler was built in 1951.

Neither Zeigler nor Richardson knew when the Ranger image was put on the gym floor.

Richardson said the floor hadn't been refurbished for about 10 to 12 years, but at that time, the Ranger mascot was kept.

In light of the change, Richardson said a men's 3-point shooting line was added to the refurbished floor.

Zeigler said, "Things change and we need to change with it."

http://www.theranger.org/college-era...sary-1.2437222