Name-a-Day Calendar, May 15: New Orleans Privateers

Page 190 of 365

Chosen in: 1965

Chosen by: Student body vote…twice

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The current University of New Orleans was originally established as a branch of LSU: Louisiana State University in New Orleans (LSUNO) was founded in 1956 and opened in 1958.

LSUNO’s first mascot was basically just a copy of the primary LSU’s tiger, but within a decade, it was clear that this school was going to be more than just a branch campus. The community needed its own identity. In 1965, the school solicited nickname suggestions, which they put to a student body vote in early February. As a result of this vote, LSUNO could become the Cajuns, Dolphins, Mariners, Marlins, Ospreys, Panthers, Pelicans, Privateers, or Seagulls, or they could remain the Tigers.

The winner of this vote, announced in The Driftwood student newspaper on February 6, was not “Privateers”, but “Panthers”. This nickname didn’t even last a week. A significant faction of students was so upset at this nickname’s lack of connection to the city of New Orleans that they started a petition to essentially redo the election but throw out anything that wasn’t “New Orleans” enough.

This petition was successful and led to two more rounds of voting, the second of which was between two reborn finalists: “Dolphins” and “Privateers”. This time, “Privateers” won.

LSUNO continued its gradual separation from its parent institution and, in 1974, LSU allowed them to change their name to the University of New Orleans (UNO),¹ giving us for the first time the “New Orleans Privateers”.

What is a privateer, exactly? You can probably guess from UNO’s logo that it’s some type of pirate, and you’d be correct, but it’s not just any pirate. A privateer is a pirate who’s made a deal with their local government authorities to have their crimes forgiven in exchange for their services in hunting down other pirates. So…a narc, basically.²

UNO’s logo is designed after a particularly heroic privateer: Jean Lafitte,³ who halted his life of crime to fight for the United States in the War of 1812.

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1. In 2011, whatever ties were left became severed entirely, as LSU transferred control of UNO to the University of Louisiana system.

2. “New Orleans Narcs” is a way better nickname, for the record. It’s alliterative and everything! You can have this for free, UNO. Use it!

3. Also spelled “Laffite”