The Board of Trustees has posted a survey online to seek the opinion of students, alumni, faculty and staff about the current and past nickname, logo and mascot of Marquette's athletic teams, according to a university official.
University Director of Communication Brigid O'Brien said the survey is a way to get feedback from the Marquette community concerning the Board of Trustees' decision to consider changing the nickname from Golden Eagles back to Warriors.
The survey is "designed so that everyone in the Marquette community can give their feedback on the issue," O'Brien said.
According to O'Brien, cards were mailed and e-mails were sent to alumni, students, faculty and staff to inform them of the survey, available online until Nov. 20.
O'Brien said the Office of Public Affairs paid for the mailing with funds from its budget originally planned for sending information to alumni about the new Web site, MU Connect, through which the survey is conducted. The office's research funds budget was used for the survey. O'Brien declined to reveal how much the survey cost.
Advantage Research Firm is conducting the survey and the Board will review the findings at its Dec. 8 meeting, but is not expected to make a decision, then according to O'Brien. She said the Office of Public Affairs informed the research firm of the questions the university wanted answered and approved the final version but was not involved in the survey's creation.
The survey, projected to take about 15 minutes, is thorough, according to O'Brien. A valid Marquette identification number is needed. The survey can only be taken once.
The survey provides images of previous Marquette mascots and mascots of other colleges and universities.
The survey also provides information about Trustee Wayne Sanders' $1 million offer to change the name to Warriors and a copy of the Board's resolution stating the university will not use American Indian imagery.
The survey asks about the use of the name, logo and mascot, how people would describe the name, what feelings or preferences one has about past and current nicknames and how the resolution and money offer affects one's opinion.
However, one Marquette professor said he feels the survey is biased against the Warrior nickname. John McAdams, professor of political science said the phrasing of the questions and the images presented weakens the survey's credibility.
"It was extraordinarily biased," McAdams said. "They never asked the bottom-line question. They never asked whether people would prefer Golden Eagles or Warriors. They feared what answer they would get."
McAdams said the survey makes arguments to change the nickname but does not ask questions that support keeping it.
In a question asking if past mascots were offensive, five images of the old mascots were displayed. McAdams said those taking the survey were not allowed to distinguish between each image in their answer, but had to give one answer for all the different images.
McAdams said it seems the Board wants to conduct the survey for public relations purposes and will use the data to justify whatever decision they make.
Lowell Barrington, a professor of political science, said bias was apparent, but the survey's poor choice of words and images was more notable.
Barrington, like McAdams, said the survey did not ask the fundamental question of whether the name should be changed and never compared the two nicknames. He said the multi-faceted, vague questions are going to be difficult for survey-takers to interpret.
Some students said they did not feel the survey was biased. Joe Hall-Reppen, a College of Communication freshman, said he felt the survey left the judgment over which nickname is better "up to your opinion."
Laura Grimm, a College of Arts & Sciences sophomore, agreed.
"It really made you think about the issue and every aspect of it," she said.
Joe Finn, a College of Arts & Sciences junior, said the questions were "fair and accurate."
O'Brien would not comment on whether the survey was biased.