Now that the Indian has been retired, Newberry College recently sent a letter that asked for mascot suggestions. Among the proposals I've heard are the Newberry Engines (I think I can?), the Fighting Lutherans (I protest, eh?), and the Fire Ants (ouch!).
As for me?
I think that naming a new mascot is an historic, once-in-several-lifetimes opportunity, and I think maybe we answer the knock by honoring our history.
Newberry Patriots has a nice ring (of the Victory Bell), I think.
The Patriot name fits Newberry County and Newberry College well for many reasons, and all of them are reasons to be proud.
If I may, let me offer these seven as a starting point for discussion.
1. Let us remember, it was the Upstate of South Carolina that won the Revolutionary War.
At one point, things looked bleak in the great UN (Up North), and the Charleston ta-de-dahs had surrendered. All might have been lost except for the fierce German-Lutherans of the Upstate.
At the beginning of the Revolution, most Germans were Tories. Then some Newberry fellas’ fought with Captain John Caldwell at the Battle of Fort Moultrie. (The palmetto logs absorbed the British cannon balls, you may recall, which is how the palmetto came to be on the state flag.)
Among those who fought with Caldwell was the haughty William Cunningham. When he was denied a promotion he thought he deserved, Cunningham led a near-mutiny and was punished with a whipping. Upon his return home, he exacted his revenge for the whipping by switching sides and mounted a series of bloody attacks upon his neighbors’ farms.
His brtuality and cruelty turned many early Lutherans in Newberry County from allegience to the king - the king who had given them their land and who, like them, spoke German - to the Patriot cause. In response to “Bloody Bill's” attacks, the Germans took up arms against the British and fought with a ferocity that aruguably turned the tide of the war.
2. Newberry also has reason to be proud of Col. James Williams, who led local militiamen to a critical victory at King's Mountain.
He died from wounds suffered there, and two of his sons - one of whom was a mere child of 16 - were later hacked to death by the sword of “Bloody Bill.”
Yes, let there be no doubt: Upstate families fought hard and sacrificed much to win the Revolutionary War.
3. Newberrian Emily Geiger, only 18 and “merely” a girl, rode through Tory-held territory at a critical point in the war to carry a secret message from Gen. Greene to Gen. Sumter.
She was captured once, but she cleverly avoided detection as a spy by eating the message she had been given. The heroism of the Upstate's “Paula Revere” paid off in the Battle of Eutaw Springs, at which it is said the Brits lost heart if not the battle.
4. It was a Newberry man who allowed George Washington to live and found a nation.
Philemon Waters served with Washington in the French and Indian War.
At the surrender of Fort Necessity, when the French commander asked what guard had shot without hailing and killed some of his men, Waters was was standing directly behind Washington with his rifle “loaded, primed and cocked.” He knew the name the French commander sought was his own, and Waters later said, “If Washington had said Phil Waters, he would never have spoken again.” Close call, eh?
But Waters let the Father of Our Country live.
5. Whenever there has come a call to arms in defense of home, Newberry College has responded.
During the War Between the States, by 1865 college classes had to be suspended because almost all of the students had enlisted.
6. During World War II, the male students at Newberry College again enlisted in great numbers.
The college might have had to suspend classes yet again, except for the campus’ selection as a site for the V-12 program, which provided training for naval officers.
In addition to their military classes and rigorous physical training, these young men carried a full load of college classes.
Again, the college stood tall to perform its patriotic duty, and in gratitude, the Navy named a ship built during the war, “The Newberry.”
When the war was won and the soldiers came marching home, the college embraced them. Many of them returned to Newberry and earned the degrees they needed for life success, on the GI Bill.
7. During the Vietnam era, when other campuses were suspending their ROTC programs because of opposition to the war, Newberry College started an Air Force ROTC program.
Students at the college also organized the Gung-Ho Club, to send care packages to soldiers. Let us not forget “Chief” Charlie Pruitt of the music department, either. He recruited many, many Newberry College students for the National Guard Band - and some of them are still there.
As I said, these seven reasons are only a starting point for discussion. There are potentially thousands of other reasons - the young men and women who earned degrees at Newberry College, before and after serving their country in uniform.
Some returned from war, some did not, but all put themselves in harm's way to protect our homes and our freedoms.
Truly, we have much to celebrate in our patriotic past here in Newberry.
We are a people who have always embraced freedom, have fought and died for freedom.
We have much to celebrate in our patriotic present and future, too.
Yes, whatever name is given to the Newberry College teams, Newberry County and Newberry College will always be Patriots.
That's why the Newberry Patriots has such a nice (Victory Bell) ring to it, I think.
How's about you think about it, too, and let me know what you think. Thanks!
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