WORCESTER, Ma. — After months of discussion, the Board of Trustees at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Ma., said Saturday that they have decided to continue to be known as the Crusaders.
“While we acknowledge that the Crusades were among the darkest periods in Church history, we choose to associate ourselves with the modern definition of the word crusader, one which is representative of our Catholic, Jesuit identity and our mission and values as an institution and community,” College of Holy Cross President Rev. Philip L. Boroughs and Board Chair John H. Mahoney wrote in an email to the college community. “We are not simply crusaders, we are Holy Cross Crusaders.”
The college’s student newspaper, which coincidentally shared the name The Crusader with a Ku Klux Klan publication, is changing its name. The staff at The Crusader announced Friday the paper will now be known as The Spire.
The new name pays homage to the distinctive twin spires of Fenwick Hall, Holy Cross’ main building and the oldest structure on the Jesuit school’s campus.
An editorial Friday said the change had nothing to do with “the nominal association with a poorly-circulated KKK newspaper,” but because of the violence and massacres associated with the medieval Crusades.
The name change was made without input from the college’s administration or trustees.
