UPDATE: A website, has been launched in an effort to keep Hey Reb!
ORIGINAL STORY:
Former and current students have expressed concern over the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' mascot, Hey Reb!, because of its alleged Confederate ties.
A campus group, called the Council for Equity and Opportunity, is asking the campus community and the Board of Regents to take an online survey to gauge thoughts on the mascot, after racial tensions have risen up on other college campuses across the nation.
"I don't think the mascot should be changed," says one student, Eden Reed. "I don't think when they made it there was any malicious intent, so there's no need to add malicious intent."
Students already voted out the college's original mascot, Beauregard, back in the 70's for its racial implications.
Then Hey Reb! was designed after the mountain men of the 1800's, but they kept the nickname.
"There are a lot of people making assumptions that the mascot means this, or the mascot means that," says the university's Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Rainier Spencer.
Dr. Spencer has submitted a report on the school's mascot, its history, and its opinions on campus.
That report should be released in a matter of days.
The Council for Equity and Opportunity say they plan to submit their results from their online survey to the Board of Regents before their next meeting in December.
That survey can be found here.
