Sometime back, a group urged the powers that be at Unified School District 257 to find another name for the girls’ teams at Iola High School. “Fillies” was undignified and sexist, they avered. I’ve forgotten what they proposed as a substitute. It wasn’t Lady Horses. Or Missy Mustangs. Slips my mind.
Whatever. The reform died aborning. Fillies the IHS girls were; Fillies they remain.
With that history in mind, I hereby predict that President Kirk Schulz will have a dickens of a time getting rid of the K-State moniker.
K-State has been K-State for a very long time. Maybe as long as KU has been KU. As long as Wildcats have been ’Cats and Jayhawks ’Hawks.
Pres. Schulz worries Kansas State University doesn’t get its share of recognition for its substantial academic achievements because K-State also could refer to Kentucky State or someplace else. Schulz wants us all to say Kansas State to end the confusion.
Well, he has a point. And as a matter of fact, Kansas State and K-State are used interchangeably throughout the state. But K-Staters prefer the shorter nickname for sentimental, emotional reasons. So it’s not going to go away.
The Lawrence Journal World is skeptical, too. It notes that the university’s new long-range plan is titled, “K-State 2025: A Visionary Plan for Kansas State University.”
Even the insiders aren’t persuaded.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
