Ben Jay and Rainbow nickname advocate meet
University of Hawaii athletic director Ben Jay and Stephen Chinen, the man who is trying to save the Rainbow nickname for UH men’s sports, met in person for a half hour on Tuesday and came to an agreement.
“We agreed to disagree,” Chinen told me. Jay repeated the same thing.
“We had a good meeting,” Jay said. “He’s very passionate, but I explained our position. We just agree to disagree.”
Chinen said he asked Jay what would have him change his mind about calling all UH men’s teams Warriors, officially starting July 1.
“His answer was, ‘Nothing,’,” said Chinen, who spent the rest of his day meeting with other department heads at UH discussing the nickname issue.
Chinen said plans for a Rally 4 Rainbows at UH are still on. He is hoping for a crowd in the thousands on May 3 at Bachman Hall and is looking into renting buses to transport protesters to campus.
Jay announced in February that as of July 1 all UH men’s teams would assume the Warriors nickname and drop Rainbows. Some teams, including football, are already officially called Warriors.
buy tickets
not sure if jay did it the right way. oftentimes, when school names are chosen or changed the student body is asked to participate in the nomination and selection process, they ususally have the final say. the nickname of a school does not only represent the teams and athletes but the whole student body as well. don’t believe it is the sole responsibilty of the AD to arbitrarily pick a name. an alumni of a school, say USC wants to be know as a trojan. as an alumni of UH, I don’t have any qualms about being a “rainbow”. the “rainbow” of UH is not the one that signifies homosexuals, but the rainbow of Manoa. those who think otherwise must have some masculinity problems.
Let BenJ do his job. He’s the man right now. Maybe you’ll all get the say on the Mascot
Right on Ben Jay!!!!
Where was this enthusiasm and passionate support for the ‘Rainbow’ name previously? There was plenty of opportunity to do this before Ben Jay came on board. Making this move after the barn door has closed is ridiculous. Get over it and move on…Go Warriors!
Some find it hard to accept change. I say, let the men’s team be known as the Warriors, but if the fans want to wear rainbow t-shirts and holler ‘Go Rainbows,’ go for it.
And I agree with 1. Go to the game. Buy tickets. Best support I can think of. And on the flipside, UH Athletics nees to be more supportive of the fans in creating ways to make it economical and accessible for fans to get to the stadium. Many older fans are just not into tail-gating and fighting the traffic and parking. $18 roundtrip/person via chartered bus service is not the solution.
Way to go Ben Jay!
There is nothing wrong with the name Rainbows, the school has the Rainbows name for over 40 years with lots of good memories and history behind it. For those of you argue the Rainbows name signifies homophobic, then why does Ben Jay is keeping the Wahine sports teams name as Rainbows? don’t homophobic apply in both sexes?
NO, Lesbians (Not Man-Haters) are “Cool” with most men and almost everyone…
Most of the homo-phobia resides around the men…
( i believe triggered & exacerbated by HIV and the generally more promiscuous lifestyle…)
GOOD Point, though
It was enough (for me) to Retain the schoolʻs Heritage through the Courage of Na Wahine
While Placating The Shadow-Phobes in shared showers…
There’s nothing like some dude from the mainland flying into town, making the first thing he does changing the name of a program with decades of history behind it, and then reinforcing that decision by saying, “No, I don’t care what you think, I do it because I can. And because I love this place and want to make it my home.” Where did the first guy to do that go (and who did he leave behind to take care of us)? Where will the second guy to do it go? Under which name was Aloha Stadium rocking the loudest and longest? One thing for certain, overall, the “Warriors” have not done as well season ticket sale wise as the “Rainbows”. So, tell me again why the changeover makes sense? More importantly, tell me why it makes historical sense to let it happen. Because more students will go to games? Because the recruits will be better? Because season ticket sales will go up? Because the program(s) will make more money notwithstanding the season ticket sale numbers? Because donors will then flock in with gobs of cash? Because UH will be in a better position to get on National TV? Because ppv will be cheaper? Because UH will be better positioned to get into the Pac-whatever? Because more teams will want to come to Hawaii to play? Because leagues won’t require payment of travel costs to let UH be a member? Because UH’s limited and ever dwindling number of fans will buy more shirts with a single name on it when they can buy one shirt and wear it to all sports? Tell me, please, why the change is needed.
Give it up already 1954 ,and Chinen, you’re wasting everyone’s time, they got a University to run!!!
When this issue first came up over a decade ago, my reponse at the time was that June Jones opposed the Rainbow Coalition founded by Jesse Jackson in the mid 1980s. Over the years, almost 500 local Democrats signed on to the Coalition’s mandate which focused on racial, ethnic, cultural, and social justice issues such as immigration, public safety, women’s rights, and public education not only here in Hawai`i but also nationally.
As a member of the Coalition, it never occurred to me that the supporters for dropping the Rainbow name were addressing homosexual issues rather than the ones listed above.
As supporters of sevem women’s & men’s NCAA sports, I do not see or hear any resistance to using the Bows or Rainbows in chants and other activities.
NOTE: Several years ago, I read an academic study on collegiate & professional sports and homosexuality. In the study, nearly a third of all men and almost half of the women taking part in these sports are (hidden) homosexuals who are able to touch men or women and see them naked in locker rooms without being accused of inappropriate behavior.
Capitol , your comments are way out of line , statistics are without any accurate data base in indicate that a third of all men playing sports are gay, hogwash!
I am reporting on a study – go after the researchers, not me, if you want to challenge the results.
AAAANNNNDDD.. that is how a blog topic gets sidetracked.
😆
LETS GO WARRIORS!
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzDeHsKzVEA
I guess it’s too late as you stated before .
Good for you Chinen, nevah when expect THAT response, did you? Now, drop the issue.
Said it once, will say it forever: those who identify themselves as UH-Manoa sports fans who want to keep the rainbow logo when you can have the H logo and the Warrior instead are really not fans of UH-Manoa sports. They probably have their real fandom based with some other university or college (from where they actually graduated or where their keed[s] attend).
Go support some other school if you can’t stand the “H” logo and/or the Warrior. Don’t let the door hit ya where the dog shoulda’ bit ya.
Ben Jay is unique to UH. He is someone who can make a decision and stick with it. Breath of fresh air in my opinion.