Protestors rally in support of the Lady Volunteers nickname before the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees annual meeting at Hollingsworth Auditorium, Thursday, June 25, 2015, in Knoxville, Tenn. The board did not address the issue as the university prepares to eliminate the nickname and logo for all women’s sports other than basketball. (Adam Lau/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP)KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee’s decision to eliminate the Lady Volunteers nickname in all sports but women’s basketball is the latest move in a nationwide trend of schools moving away from separate team monikers for men and women.
The difference this time is the level of protests.
Tennessee announced in November that all women’s teams – other than its storied basketball squad – would be nicknamed the Volunteers and would adopt the “Power T” logo used by the men’s teams starting in 2015-16. Tennessee officials said it is an attempt at branding consistency.
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Schools in the Power Five conferences (Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference) that use separate nicknames for men’s and women’s teams:Baylor — Uses Lady Bears nickname only for women’s basketball.Georgia — Uses Lady Bulldogs nickname for women’s basketball, cross country, swimming and track and field. Calls its women’s gymnastics team the Gym Dogs.LSU and Texas Tech — LSU uses Lady Tigers and Texas Tech uses Lady Raiders for women’s sports that have a direct male counterpart, such as basketball, golf and tennis.Oklahoma State — Calls all its women’s teams the Cowgirls.Penn State — Uses Lady Lions only for women’s basketball.Tennessee — Calls all its women’s teams the Lady Volunteers. Starting Wednesday, only the women’s basketball team will be called the Lady Vols.Southern California — Uses Trojans and Women of Troy interchangeably for its women’s teams.
Opponents have been vocal.