Reid calls for Nevada to reconsider ‘Rebels’ nickname

WASHINGTON — Amid new concerns over symbols of the Confederacy, Sen. Harry Reid on Tuesday said Nevada should reconsider the “Rebels” nickname for UNLV, a carryover from the days the school more closely identified itself with the South.

Reid said the Nevada Board of Regents “should take that up and take a look at it. It’s up to the Board of Regents and I believe they should take a look at it.”

Afterward, Reid spokesman Kristen Orthman confirmed that Reid was “calling for action” on the nickname for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Symbols of the Confederacy have come under new criticism in the aftermath of the racially-inspired shooting of black churchgoers June 17 in Charleston, S.C. Advocates for change say the public placement of Confederate flags and statues of Confederate icons could imply an official endorsement of the separatist movement that was based in large part on the embrace of slavery.

In Nevada, the UNLV nickname and its mascot drew heavily on the Confederacy in the early days of the university. The school founded in 1957 positioned itself as the Southern counterpart of the more established University of Nevada, Reno and its Wolf Pack moniker.

The first version of the mascot was a cartoon wolf clad in Confederate military garb named Beauregard — the surname of Confederate Gen. Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard.

The student government was originally the Confederated Students of the University of Nevada, and the football team’s helmets were decorated with Confederate flag decals, according to school history.

The symbols were toned down and Beauregard was abolished in 1976 after a group of black athletes complained to late former UNLV President Don Baepler. The Hey Reb mascot designed to look like a minuteman first appeared in 1983. He was changed to the square-jawed, mustachioed mascot in 1997.

According to Michael Green, an associate professor of history at UNLV, when Jerry Tarkanian was hired he told the administration it would be hard to recruit black athletes to join a team that donned confederate iconography. Tarkanian’s run-and-gun style led the basketball team to become known as the “Runnin’ Rebels.”

Tarkanian wasn’t the only person calling for change. Green said African-American professors and students also talked about the poor taste of the mascot.

Beyond the mascot, Green said a confederate flag used to hang from the rafters of the Thomas & Mack in the early ’80s until students and teachers complained.

Until the late ’90s, it was common to see students waving confederate flags at sporting events, he added.

“It wasn’t too long before that stopped,” Green said. “I’m not sure how much of that was general consciousness or the university stepping in.”

Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., said Reid’s attention was misdirected to the UNLV nickname.,

“Senator Reid should be less concerned with renaming sports teams and more concerned with passing the National Defense Authorization and Appropriation bills,” Heck, who is considering running for U.S. Senate, said in a statement.

“While UNLV’s original mascot caused controversy, which was appropriately addressed in the late ’70s, the current UNLV mascot, Hey Reb!, has been the mascot since 1983 and has no relation to the Civil War, the Confederacy, or slavery,” Heck said. “As the school states on its website, he was created to depict an independent mountain man and to embody Rebel spirit at athletic events and student and alumni activities.”

Michael Wixom, a Las Vegas-based attorney who represents southern Clark County on the Board of Regents, said the group has never discussed any issues with the school’s mascot and noted that he doesn’t feel it has ever been interpreted as racist.

Wixom said he’d gladly discuss the issue before the board if someone requests members to do so. As of early Tuesday afternoon, Reid’s office hadn’t reached out.

“I’ve never seen the mascot used in a negative way,” Wixom said. “I personally don’t see it as an issue.”

Regent James Dean Leavitt said UNLV has fully shed its controversial image. He wondered aloud whether Reid knew the history before commenting.

“My guess is not,” Leavitt said. “But it’s an important topic for us to discuss so the public understands that portion of the (history of the) mascot.”

Regent Cedric Crear, who chairs the board’s cultural diversity committee, said he plans to ask UNLV leadership to host a public discussion gauging public concern over the school’s nickname and its mascot, which he feels can be construed as racially insensitive.

“They’re a strong representation of the university and of Southern Nevada,” said Crear, who is African-American. “This is probably a good time to have a conversation regarding how it affects communities in 2015 versus the ’70s. A lot has changed.”

In South Carolina, Gov. Nikki Haley has called for the long-controversial Confederate flag to be taken down from in front of the state Capitol. Wal-Mart, Sears, Amazon and eBay have announced they will no longer sell Confederacy-themed items.

Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, told reporters that the Senate would be examining dozens of statues that line the halls of the U.S. Capitol. At least eight Confederate historical figures are memorialized in statues, including Jefferson Davis, who was elected president of the Confederate States.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday that a statue of Davis should be removed from the Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort.

Federal law allows each state to place two statues in the Capitol, and Reid said there might not be much that Congress can do about them other than make states “understand who they have here.”

But, he added, “it would be important that we look at some of the statues here that are not here as a result of what the states have done.”

Reid, the Senate minority leader from Nevada, said he would add to the list of questionable statues that of Pat McCarran, who served as Nevada senator from 1932 to 1954. While he wrote critical legislation in the fields of civil aviation and antitrust law, McCarran also was known as a virulent anti-communist who also held strong views on race.

Reid, who has spoken out in the past against McCarran’s legacy, said Tuesday the Nevadan’s statue “should be put out to pasture someplace. I think he doesn’t represent what our country stands for and certainly what Nevada stands for.

Nevada’s second statue is of Sarah Winnemucca, a 19th century Paiute activist and educator.

“Statues are important,” Reid said. “They send a message.”

Review-Journal writers Michael Lyle and Mark Anderson contributed to this report. Contact Review-Journal Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@reviewjournal.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @STetreaultDC. Contact Review-Journal writer Ana Ley at 702-387-5512. Find her on Twitter @la_ley