Fact vs. Fiction
We'll break down fact from fiction regarding our nickname vs our sideline mascot.
• Fact: Catawba College was founded in 1851 and was first physically established in Catawba County, North Carolina. The committee appointed by the founding trustees to choose the name of the school selected Catawba College “in view of the location of the school in Catawba County, which was bordered on the east by the Catawba River, along the banks of which the Catawba Indians once roamed” (Dedmond, 1989, p. 33). The College’s name selection was geographically based rather than named in recognition of the Catawba people.
• Fact: Catawba College began competitive athletics in the early part of the 20th century (Dedmond, 1989, p. 92).
• Fact: After relocating to Salisbury in 1925, the College formally adopted the name “Indians” for our athletic teams on February 19, 1927, “by unanimous vote of the student body” with the support of the Catawba College Athletic Association. One of the main substantial reasons was the College’s name, Catawba, derived from the native people of the region (Catawba College 1927 Yearbook, p. 160).
• Fact: In August of 2005, The NCAA Executive Committee issued guidance on the adoption of a new policy, effective February 1, 2006, prohibiting NCAA colleges and universities from “displaying hostile and abusive racial/ethnic/national origin mascots, nicknames or imagery” and explicitly listed Catawba College and the Indians nickname as a member institution impacted by this policy (NCAA, 2005). Before the NCAA ruling, the College had already formed a task force. It took proactive steps over the previous years by discontinuing the College’s mascot and removing all renderings of Native Americans across campus, citing the representations were not of Catawba Indians and their culture.
• Fact: In October of 2005, the Catawba College Board of Trustees authorized a formal appeal to the NCAA for the continued use of the athletic nickname, Indians. The late Chief Gilbert Blue of the Catawba Nation spoke directly with the NCAA chair of the appeals committee, Dr. Bernard Franklin, and voiced support for the College to continue using Indians as the College’s athletic nickname. In May 2006, the NCAA ruled that Catawba College could use the athletic nickname, Catawba Indians specifically, not Indians, without penalty, citing support from the Catawba Nation as the rationale for its continued use. The College continues to use the athletic nickname Catawba Indians, which remains in place today (catawbaathletics.com, January 2025).
• Fact: In 2007, Catawba College and the Catawba Nation agreed to continue using the athletic nickname, Catawba Indians, in exchange for a full-tuition scholarship for a Catawba Nation student every four years. This scholarship agreement remained in effect through the 2021-22 academic year until the number of scholarships was increased this year. No other symbol or logo was included as part of this agreement.
• Fact: In the Spring of 2022, Catawba College and the Catawba Nation entered into a new agreement to offer a full-tuition scholarship on an annual basis to a Catawba Nation citizen and mutually pledged to continue strengthening our partnership through additional educational pathways and opportunities in the new future. No other terms were in this agreement (Salisbury Post, April 8, 2022).
• Fact: In April 2022, Catawba College announced the return of the College’s historic block C as the official athletic logo of the College. The historic block C logo served the College for the greatest length of time in the College’s history (Catawba College, April 26, 2022).
• Fact: The College’s administration was responsible for the re-adoption of the historic block C as the College’s official athletic logo. Catawba College students did not petition nor request the retirement of any previous athletic logo, nor were the previous collection of athletic logos used from the 1980s to 2022 retired due to a request from the NCAA, the Catawba Nation, or any other entity or agreement, including Nike. Furthermore, the previous athletic logos were not retired because they included elements often associated with Native American imagery. Instead, the re-adoption of the historic block C was done as part of an overall branding strategy the College has undertaken over the past year (Salisbury Post, May 4, 2022).
• Fact: As the College has not had a sponsored mascot since the early 2000s, the College began exploring the adoption of an official sideline mascot. This includes conversations directly with the Catawba Nation leadership and Culture Center on appropriate mascots to complement the College’s athletic nickname, Catawba Indians. The College’s athletic nickname remains the Catawba Indians, and the Catawba Nation continues to support it, regardless of adopting a sideline mascot.
