Education
NNU Nighthawk Mascot Is a Goatsucker
October 16, 2017 
Local media was alight with announcements Monday that CRUSADER has taken on a negative connotation, so the new mascot is a NIGHT HAWK for Nampa’s Northwest Nazarene University.
But did the well-intentioned deciders at the Christian institution of higher learning not have at least one staffer who had a passing interest in ornithology?
Night hawks, whippoorwills and other nocturnal feathered flyers are all members of the GOATSUCKER family, Nighthawks are those birds with a white stripe under the wing that dive over the city at dusk snatching up insects. You can often hear the wind beneath their wings.
Our online dictionary offered up this definition for CRUSADER: noun
1 ( Crusader )a fighter in the medieval Crusades.
2 a person who campaigns vigorously for political, social, or religious change; a campaigner: crusaders for early detection and treatment of mental illness.
Common nighthawk (goatsucker)
Not much negative in that version, but here’s what it says of GOATSUCKER: goatsucker |ˈgōtˌsəkər|
noun
another term for nightjar.
ORIGIN early 17th cent.: so named because the bird was thought to suck goats’ udders.
The bird sites, including BEAUTYOFBIRDS all discuss GOATSUCKERS (Order: CAPRIMULGIFORMES, Family: CAPRIMULGIDAE)…which seems a long way from CRUSADERS.
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Comments & Discussion
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Oct 17, 2017, 5:15 am
Political correctness prevails at NNU. It’s interesting how any time a controversial change is made that it’s always safer to do it by committee. Thus no one person can be held responsible or blamed.
Oct 17, 2017, 9:09 am
amazing how a group of learned professors came up with that mascot.
But I’m sure that since they play many other Christian Universities no one will call the NNU players goatsuckers. 🙂
Crusaders might start looking good to NNU….
Oct 17, 2017, 9:27 am
As “Crusader” has gone, so will Yankee, Patriot, and Pioneer (and countless others) be cleansed from our history.
Oct 17, 2017, 1:04 pm
These people got a lot of nerve to make fun of the Catholic guilt methodology. The Crusades were some of the most important and morally correct events in human history. There would be no here and now without those historical watershed events. Watch as they remove the crosses from their buildings next.
Liberalism is a mental disease.
Oct 17, 2017, 4:17 pm
I play golf with several NNU graduates. They didn’t like the change and the agreed upon response was. They should be called the Pansy’s
Oct 18, 2017, 7:29 am
In my opinion, liberals are wrong on many things, but are not mentally ill. Nor are they “sickos.” Conservatives are wrong on many things too. But they aren’t necessarily haters or evil or racist or sexist. The level of discussion certainly takes a nose dive now and again.
EDITOR NOTE–Erico, agreed on level of comments lately. I have trashed several of late and when possible sent letters to the writers asking them to upgrade.
Oct 18, 2017, 10:45 am
NNU is a good University. But you have to wonder why they wanted to go through this change right now. Many of my NNU friends were very upset about David Alexander resignation after allegations surfaced of an inappropriate relationship he had with an NNU student more than 25 years ago. When does a guy get forgiveness for a mistake he made 25 years ago? Joel Pearsall, the new President is a great guy that was put in a tough spot.
It has come up several times in the last few years to drop the Nazarene name from NNU. Some people see this as the first step to that end.
Mr. Guardian I think some times we are getting to old, and need to move to a new planet.