08:57 AM CST on Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Associated Press

MONROE -- The Indian is out at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Under the threat of NCAA sanctions, ULM President James Cofer has accepted the Mascot Committee's recommendation to retire its 75-year-old mascot and choose a new one by June 1.

That will be plenty of time to have new uniforms and merchandise ready for football season, Cofer said.

The committee has been sent more than 417 ideas, and will continue taking suggestions through Feb. 28. Many of those received so far are variants on themes -- for instance, Black Bears, Fighting Bears, Bruins and Bayou Bruins, Cofer said.

Mascot Committee chairman George Luffey said another suggestion he likes is Gators, since only one other NCAA Division IA school -- Florida -- has an alligator mascot.

Although the change is not ULM's idea, Cofer said, the name change from Northeast Louisiana University and other changes have created a better university, and creating a new campus brand can also improve it.

The committee will cut the mascot choices to 20 or fewer by March 15, and to three or four by April 1. ULM will put logos for each finalist onto its mascot Web site for an online vote before the adminstration makes its choice, Cofer said.

"It is with sadness that we will say goodbye to the Indian mascot," he wrote in a letter to ULM alumni and supporters. "But let us also remember that it is the great university represented by the mascot we feel strongly about, not the mascot itself."

Senior Stephanie Williams, a former Lady Indians basketball player, said she understands why the NCAA considered the mascot potentially offensive, but it will be hard to change.

"It's tough because it's been a big part of the university for so long," said Williams, a New Orleans native. "As an athlete, it becomes a part of you. It grows on you."

New NCAA standards go into effect Wednesday. Although ULM can remain the Indians through the end of May, any athletics teams that reach post-season play would have to cover the name or image.

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On the Net:

http://www.ulm.edu/mascot/

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)