By: Jonathan Carlson
I see no justification for the university to abandon the Crusader mascot. Our Crusader is a representation of Valparaiso University’s community values. Our reputation as Crusaders rests upon the manner in which we uphold core values in our learning, our professions and our daily lives. The Crusader has always been and will always be what we portray it to be, a tradition exemplified with characteristics of zeal, honor, and fortitude.
Zeal comes with our faculty and students eagerness to learn and their dedication to the community of learning. Our university mission statement defines our institution as an educational system “grounded in the Lutheran tradition of scholarship, freedom, and faith, prepare[ing] students to lead and serve in both church and society.” We require Zeal, but we also require Honor. Our Honor Code ensures that our community will hold itself and its peers to the highest standards of professionalism and accountability. Fortitude is the final promotion of the foundations of what it means to be a Crusader. By definition, fortitude is “a mental and emotional strength [when] facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously.” Education is difficult, requires us to overcome adversity, at times may be dangerous, and often tempts our actions but the Crusader prevails and the process of learning and its tradition lives passes from to each and every student from the day they come to Valparaiso and continuing on as Alumni.
As a University and as a community we are who we portray ourselves to be. We are Crusaders and through the manifestation of our beliefs our university will continue to grow and flourish. There stands to be no reason to abandon the Crusader mascot. We are a community of scholarship, freedom and faith. We are a community of tradition, tolerance and commitment to diversity. We are Crusaders.
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