LEAVE out the beaver.Beaver College, founded in Pennsylvania’s Beaver County in 1853, is in for a name change.
The school’s board of trustees voted 23 to 1 to change the name.
A task force has been appointed and will recommend new names to the board this fall.
While the college, which relocated to Glenside, Pa., just outside Philadelphia in the 1920s, has been subject to vulgar jokes for years, the Internet forced the board to vote on the matter.
“There was very little debate. The evidence was overwhelming,” said Bill Avington, spokesman for Beaver College. “It is sad. There’s a lot of history that goes along with this name.”
The word “beaver” set off many Internet screening software programs – used by parents, libraries and high schools, to filter obscene sites – to make the school’s Web site and e-mails inaccessible to potential students.
A poll by Beaver College of high school students also revealed that 30 percent wouldn’t consider attending a school with name.
The college also will apply to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for university status, which will effect the name as well.
The college polled students, former students and teachers on the potential name change.
More than 6,400 of the surveys were returned. The school also received hundreds of e-mails and letters filled with opinions from people unconnected with the school, some as far away as Australia.