By Nick Ironside

Rebel Black Bear made his oIfcial debut as the

University of Mississippis mascot in April of this year.
Since the 1930s, Ole Misss mascot was a Civil War-era
military man of the Confederate south named Colonel
Reb, but university oIfcials recently chose to sack him
following complaints of racial insensitivity.
As a result, Curry is now one oI only fve colleges/
universities in the country to have a Colonel as its
mascot. The other schools are Centre College (Danville,
Ky.), Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond, Ky.),
Nicholls State University (Thibodaux, La.) and Wilkes
University (Wilkes-Barre, Penn.).
Curry professor Melissa Anyiwo, who teaches in
the Politics and History Department, said the Colonel
is an increasingly embattled mascot because of greater
social awareness. Increased sensitivity about stereotypes
prompted the NCAA in 2005 to ban sports teams from
using American Indian mascots during any post-season
tournament, deeming nicknames such as the Braves,
Seminoles and Illini hostile and offensive.
I was pretty shocked when I realized that Curry had a
Confederate-looking colonel as its mascot, said Anyiwo,
who leads various campus-wide diversity initiatives.
But given that the North can more easily hide its legacy
of anti-black atrocities behind its participation in the
Civil War on the side of good, it is not surprising.
It is not the colonel that is the issue, she added.
It is the type of colonel, representing a defeated army
of a temporary nation committed to the continuing
enslavement of an entire race.
That said, Anyiwo doesnt believe many students or
faculty at Curry have given much thought to the potential
meaning behind the schools mascot. They probably
just see it as a colonel, she said.
Curry librarian David Miller, who in recent years
served as interim director of the library, said he has never
discovered the origins of Currys
mascot. Similarly, politics and
history professor John Hill, who
has been at Curry since 1969, said
he did not know when the mascot
came about or why. According to
the colleges Web site, the schools
founder, Samuel Silas Curry, grew
up in eastern Tennessee during the
Civil War. Silas Curry was also
born into the rigors of farming life,
including the diIfculties oI the
four years of the Civil War, during
which the armies of the North (to
which East Tennessee remained
loyal) and the South kept moving
across the state, taking from the
farm whatever they wanted, the
site reads.
Despite the mystery surrounding
the origins of Currys mascot, some
students view the Colonel apolitically, simply
as a military man who represents toughness.
I like the Colonel because its a little
different, said Jimmy Mascioli, a sophomore
criminal justice major. I think of the army
colonel. Were here to battle.
Daniel Freeman, a sophomore communication
major, echoed Masciolos sentiment.
I think its unique, said Freeman. I
didnt know what a colonel was until I came
here, and I think a unique mascot goes far.
However, Freeman said if he could change
something about the mascot, he would remove
its purple uniform.
I dont like the color, Freeman said. I
prefer red and black.
4 THE CURRIER TIMES OCTOBER 2011
Curry one of only five colleges/universities
left in the country with a Colonel mascot
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blance to the former mascot of the University of Mississippi,
Colonel Reb. Ole Miss got rid of its far more serious looking
mascot last year following complaints of racial insensitivity.
Mascot Mystery
Cullen Joins Curry Faculty as New PAL Director
By Zachary Weiss
Joseph Cullen is the new director of
PAL, flling a position that has been
empty for the last three years. Cullen
comes to Curry from Appalachian State
University in North Carolina, where
he held various positions, including
associate professor of special education
and interim associate director of an
institute focused on health and human
services.
Cullen holds a bachelors degree in
sociology from the College of William
and Mary in Virginia and a doctorate in
special education from the University of
Connecticut. He has worked in higher
education since 1996, and had previously
served as a psychologist in various public
schools in Connecticut and Germany, as
well as in private facilities for individuals
with mental health issues.
PAL, which stands for Program
for Advancement of Learning, is
among Currys most storied programs.
Established in 1970, PAL is designed
to provide academic support to students
with language-based learning disabilities,
such as dyslexia, or behavioral
disabilities, such as attention defcit
disorder or attention defcit hyperactivity
disorder. Such students apply to Curry
through PAL and pay to receive, among
other things, up to two hours a week of
specialized tutoring in any subject.
ZW: Why was the director of PAL
position appealing to you?
JC: Energy of the program. I felt very
strongly that PAL was a place faculty
cared about the students success. They
understood students with learning
disabilities and worked with the students
challenges in their lives.
ZW: What do you hope to accomplish as
director?
JC: I have two goals. One is to assure
its sustainability in the short term. The
numbers have been dropping, and we
need to focus on how to stabilize student
enrollment. Once we achieve that, then
its time to think longer term. I want to
see PAL reach out more to students with
learning disabilities who are not serviced
by PAL, and work more closely with the
general Curry faculty.
ZW: What are some of the strengths
of PAL?
JC: The strength of any program like PAL
is its faculty. The faculty is committed,
aware and they care about the students.
The other strengths it has are its national
history and tradition of assisting students
with learning disabilities, long before any
other program [did].
ZW: How can PAL help upperclassman
more effectively?
JC: I envision it as a transition program
for students with learning disabilities
to make the switch from high school
to college liIe. College is the fnal rite
of passage that you belong in a certain
place in the world. It prepares you to be a
knowledgeable, thoughtful person.
ZW: How do you expect to compete with
learning disability support programs from
other colleges that dont cost anything?
Currys program costs full-time students
$6,550.
JC: You have to compare PAL to other
programs that are like PAL. Programs that
are free do not offer the same regiment
of services that PAL does. They are
not staffed by faculty, but by learning
specialists. You may not see the same
person twice at other schools. It is set up
more like [Currys Academic] Enrichment
Center.
ZW: Can you retain students through four
years at Curry given the current price of
PAL?
JC: I think its a big nut for a parent to
come up with $6,550 extra so their child
can get the support they need. Having said
that, it is about four times more expensive
to educate a PAL student than it is to
educate an ordinary student at Curry.
ZW: Why is it more expensive to educate
a PAL student?
JC: Personnel costs are tremendously
expensive. State universities succeed at
keeping those costs low because they keep
caseloads high and credentials low. You
can work with someone with a bachelors
degree, but with no specifc knowledge oI
learning disabilities.
Zachary Weiss was admitted to Curry
through PAL, but is no longer involved
with the program.