Furman University Christian Knights

[snopes]

Comment: I recently heard a story about Furman University's mascot. They
are the Furman university Paladins. However I was told that before Furman
became an accreditted university they were called the the Furman College
Christian Knights. It was somewhat of an embarassment when the school
became a university and the became the Furman University Christian
Knights. (F.U.C.K.) The mascot was then changed to avoid the acronym.
Is there any truth to this story?

(Also discussed on the old board)

[Insensible Crier]

I'm an alumnus of Furman and there's no truth to this. It was a joke. Here's the history of Furman's mascot.

http://www.furman.edu/depts/music/ar...ds/paladin.htm

[moonfall]

I thought it was odd that the definition of "paladin" given on the site makes no mention of religion. Chivalry and virtue, yes, but not religion. I thought paladins were supposed to be holy knights?

Maybe I'm playing too many RPGs.

[Rebochan]

Heh heh...I had a friend that went to Furman. She mentioned there wasn't a lot of merchandise that said "F.U." on it, but she could have been pulling my leg. My cousin said she got a brochure from there once and always jokes that it would have been awesome to get her B.S. at F.U.

Okay, I'll stop. I could do this all day

[Kamino Neko]

Originally Posted by moonfall

I thought paladins were supposed to be holy knights?

Maybe I'm playing too many RPGs.

You definitely have - despite being used in the Catholic Church, in the real world, Paladin is pretty much purely secular in origin.

The Wikipedia entry on the term.

[Johnny Slick]

Originally Posted by moonfall

I thought it was odd that the definition of "paladin" given on the site makes no mention of religion. Chivalry and virtue, yes, but not religion. I thought paladins were supposed to be holy knights?

Maybe I'm playing too many RPGs.

Personally, I'm more creeped out by the fact that the mascot gets to "lay on hands" twice a day.

[snopes]

Has any college team ever commonly been referred to by an abbreviation formed by combining the initials of the college's name and their mascot, as proposed here? I've never seen the USC Trojans referenced as USCT, or the UCLA Bruins as UCLAB, or the Boston University Terriers as BUT, etc.

[Johnny Slick]

The Washington State University Cougars are sometimes referred to in a variation of the above method. The Washington portion of it is left off when the acronym is created...

[Debunker]

Originally Posted by snopes

Has any college team ever commonly been referred to by an abbreviation formed by combining the initials of the college's name and their mascot, as proposed here? I've never seen the USC Trojans referenced as USCT, or the UCLA Bruins as UCLAB, or the Boston University Terriers as BUT, etc.

Probably not, but they don't have initials that create a snicker-worthy acronym, either.

[46liter]

I remember a story about the "Fairfield Union Charging Knights." This was supposedly a High School in in Fairfield Union,OH.

[TimC]

Originally Posted by 46liter

I remember a story about the "Fairfield Union Charging Knights." This was supposedly a High School in in Fairfield Union,OH.

Exactly what I was going to post! Fairfield Union High School is in Lancaster, Ohio, about 20 miles from where I grew up and this was a constant rumor.

For the record, they are the Fairfield Union Falcons.