The decision to retire Dutchmen/Dutchwomen

We realize that moving away from Dutchmen/Dutchwomen will disappoint some members of our community, especially among our alumni - many of whom represented the College proudly as a member of one of our athletic teams during their time as students.

We deeply respect those views and know they come from a place of love for the College. We also didn’t make this decision lightly.

Rather it came after careful consideration of all our options, and much interaction with members of our community, including our Trustees, alumni ambassador groups such as President’s Council, student-athlete captains and other student leaders.

We also read and listened to every piece of feedback we received from our broader community and used that information to help inform our decision.

Additionally, the College has not had an active mascot to represent its nickname in more than a decade, and the nicknames under consideration provide us with more exciting mascot options than the current names offer.

Finally, one of our guiding principles in this work has been the understanding that to move away from the status quo we had to have alternatives that allowed us to embrace our tradition and history while enabling us to better engage with our current and future community. We are confident that we have arrived at such a place.

Still, we know that change – even for good reason and with good alternatives to the status quo – can be difficult.

To all those who shared their support for Dutchmen/Dutchwomen, we offer our sincerest thanks for your input and would only ask that you keep an open mind as we move forward.