ALEXANDER QUON

A controversy at the University of Calgary has prompted universities across the country to re-examine their policies regarding intramural team names.

Names like “The Frigid Whores”, “Let Me See Your TDs”, and “Beats by Ray” — a nod to NFL player Ray Rice who was arrested after assaulting his fiancé — prompted a review of all names for intramural teams at the U of C.

Speaking to Cary Primeau, University of Saskatchewan’s Campus Rec co-ordinator, he reiterated that an unofficial policy to combat inappropriate names has been in place at the U of S for at least the last five years.

“Where it started was at the [U of C] and that’s drawn a lot more attention to the issue,” Primeau stated, reiterating that Campus Rec gets “a handful of [team names] every semester where they are blatantly inappropriate and so we contact those teams, or the students contact those teams and just say that we think this is not a very good name and they say for the most part, we have had very little issues with them changing it because at the end of the day they know they’re pushing the envelope.”

Currently, the decision making process at the U of S on the appropriateness of team names falls to the student staff members who manage the various leagues. The student managers, if they feel that a name is inappropriate will collectively discuss and try to determine whether a name is appropriate or not.

Primeau said student staff members as a group will sort through the names of campus rec teams and try to determine if they are appropriate or not and then contact the teams if they are deemed inappropriate.

“When it is definitely crossing the line regarding race, sexuality or basically inappropriateness then we will get teams to change it,” added Primeau.

Not everyone believes that limiting choice for team names is a good idea. There is currently an online petition that urges the U of C to reconsider its decision. The petition argues that all team names should be allowed, even if they do offend individuals, as “it is imparative [sic] that all things academic remain free on campus.”

As of time of print, 28 people have signed the petition while the Facebook group that started the petition, Allow ALL Team Names in University of Calgary, has 319 likes.

The naming controversy has not been restricted to the U of C, as Primeau said that the topic of intramural team names was popular among delegates at the Western Canadian Campus Recreation Conference. The Conference brought together many of Western Canada’s top, intercollegiate professionals and students to discuss issues and ideas for Campus Recreation.

“It was not a presentation topic but we did meet with directors and students [from other universities] about it. Generally I think that they are of the same opinion that that we need to look into these and look out for the university’s best interest.”

While the Sheaf was able to identify some teams at the U of S who were forced to change their names, no captains were willing to speak on the record.

Some of the team names at the U of S that could be considered suggestive, include a dodgeball team called “You Know You Want To Hit This”, an innertube water polo team called the “Wet Willies”, a hockey team called “The Reach Arounds”, and an ultimate frisbee team called “The Rimmers”.

While some may disagree with the rules, Primeau says that keeping Campus Rec appealing to all is a priority.

“Campus Rec is supposed to be fun, we are supposed to have something for every student here. The activities we offer and the team names that we have should reflect that.”

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Photo: Katherine Fedoroff/Photo Editor