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WHAT'S A SCARLET RAIDER ANYWAY?
Michelle Ippolito
Issue date: 1/23/06 Section: News
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But at Rutgers-Newark there is no mascot.
And recent discussions held to determine whether the Division I and III Scarlet Raiders should have a mascot couldn't get past the question: Just what is a "raider," anyway?
Is it a pirate? A Viking? A soldier?
Most students don't know.
Mychal Grubbs, 20, a junior at R-N who enjoys playing basketball in the Golden Dome during his free time said, "I guess I always associated raiders with the football league (the Oakland Raiders), but I have no idea what a raider is."
Fans won't find a mascot dressed up in a Scarlet Raider costume when they attend the sporting events on campus.
The only identity the Raiders have is the curved pirate sword logo superimposed on a scarlet "R."
Apparently, not even administrators know what a Scarlet Raider costume should look like.
According to John Stallings, the assistant director of athletics at R-N, "Having a mascot is something we'd really like to do. But what is a Scarlet Raider? That's the problem. How do we depict that into something that becomes a uniform?"
Stallings says that time needs to be set aside to think about what this mascot is supposed to look like.
"Getting an actual mascot is something that we're looking at. It's something we need to put a lot of time and consideration into."
In recent months, the Student Athletic Advisory Committee has discussed the lack of a mascot.
Members of the SAAC, which is made up of two players from each athletic team who meet monthly to discuss athletic issues, couldn't agree on what a raider should be, sources said.
Some even posited the notion of making the mascot an animal as a way to sidestep potentially controversial questions of the mascot's gender and race.
Stallings said the campus would not do away with the Raiders moniker, which was changed from the Red Raiders in the mid-90s.
"We're keeping the nickname Scarlet Raiders; it's just a matter of depicting the Scarlet Raider properly," he said.
The Rutgers teams on the main campus in New Brunswick are known as the Scarlet Knights.
Their mascot, a scarlet-clad knight mounted on a horse, has been a sight at football games since 1955.
The Camden campus teams are known as the Scarlet Raptors and their logo depicts a scarlet bird of prey - but they do not have a mascot.
"We should definitely have a mascot in order to ignite school spirit," said Grubbs, "Not that the games are dull, but a mascot would liven the place up."
"A Raider mascot should represent everything that the Rutgers Raider fan should be: crazy as hell," said Christopher Ramos.
At least one student didn't think a mascot was necessary.
"I don't know if it would be financially beneficial for our school to get a mascot because I don't think enough people come to games," said Sheena Eldred, a member of the Raiders women volleyball team.
When Enez Rohan, 22, was told that we don't have a mascot, the R-N senior laughed.
"Oh, there's none at the games? New Brunswick has one; we should have one, too. There's no school spirit around here!"
Deputy News Editor Kristy Barry contributed to this report.