Actually it is not,@kaukauna . The school is named after the town of Amherst.
So if the town was named Hitler, it would be okay to have a Hitler College?
@bucketdad the town would probably have to rename itself first.
I see a great deal of convenient moral misdirection here. The college doesn’t want to take responsibility for sharing the name of a bad guy, so it shifts the moral burden to the town.
“When it incorporated, the colonial governor assigned the town the name Amherst after Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst.” So Amherst the town named after Lord Jeffrey Amherst, and Amherst College named after the town. But students wouldn’t dare change the college’s name, just the mascot. Confusing indeed. [-(
Some changes are easier to make than others, seems logical to pick the low hanging fruit. Also a mascot is a unique figure, one that is supposed to rally the students and alumni behind it, something to hold the community together. Clearly LJ doesn’t.
Perhaps in time the town and college will also change names.
In the meantime there’s still the Inn.
Proposed solution: the town could officially change its name to honor the famous English gardening historian Alicia Amherst. So the new town name would be “Amherst”.
The college, of course, would then have to be renamed to match the new name of the town. So the new college name would be “Amherst College”.
There would be precedent for such a move. The home county of Seattle, Washington was originally named as “King County”, for Vice President William Rufus King. But in 1986, it was officially renamed as “King County”, to honor Martin Luther King Jr.
Nice Corbett 
Don’t forget UMass-Amherst will also need to change its name from UMass-Amherst to UMass-Amherst 
Or they could keep the name of the town, college, and mascot! You can’t erase history, and if you’re getting offender by a mascot, you’ve got bigger things to worry about.
If people don’t like the mascot, I have no problem with the change. For people who didn’t like Lord Jeff because of who he was, I don’t understand how these people can feel like the situation has improved…they still go to Hitler College in the town of Hitler.
Well, it appears as if the decision is in.
The envelope, please.
Per my son (so, not official yet), it’s the Amherst Mammoths.
I do love that mammoth in Beneski (that museum is cool in general, and free). Of the five I think that was probably best.
I could not get the link to work. They denied me access. It must be a paid subscription item.
What is the problem with the guy? Schools do not often change mascots. Was it a PC thing?
My daughter goes to Susquehanna University. They were the Crusaders. Had nothing to do with religion - it was a reference an early 20th-century coach made to the sports teams. But it’s not PC, so they had to change it. They’re the River Hawks now, which I like better, anyway.
@MassDaD68 which link didn’t work?
He advocated for the total extermination of Native Americans via biological warfare, among other methods.
https://www.umass.edu/legal/derrico/amherst/lord_jeff.html
Not a figure everyone wanted to rally around and cheer for.
The OP link. It prohibited access.
WOW. No wonder the people are upset. I too would be upset at the school if the position was to exterminate Native Americans. What a crazy thing.
Mammoths was by far the best choice of the final 5. Good job. Especially the Wooly part of the Wolly Mammoth - it just snowed again a few days ago.
I hope they take advantage of the possibilities. I want to see the band playing “Wolly Bully” at every timeout.
RIP this cool cup, circa 2016-17 