CHICAGO (AP) — After launching a campaign last month to get rid of the school’s Blue Demons nickname, DePaul’s president has reversed his decision because of an outpouring of support for it.
“I asked for input, and it was clear that both current students and alumni of several generations found common ground in the Blue Demons,” the Rev. John P. Minogue said in a statement Tuesday.
Minogue announced his decision Saturday before about 2,500 DePaul students, alumni and workers gathered to celebrate the Catholic university’s 100th anniversary.
Along with religious concerns, the anniversary spurred Minogue’s idea to drop the Demons nickname. He said he wanted to usher in a new era for the DePaul basketball program.
Minogue had suggested using just the “Blues” as the team’s name.
But students and alumni flooded university departments with calls to keep the Demons, and Internet polls and other informal surveys ran anywhere from 4-1 to 8-1 in favor of the name.