Hofstra Sheds Colorful Name for Meaningful One

So why did Hofstra change its nickname to the Pride?

At least one of the school’s basketball players has wondered the same thing.

“I kind of wish we had stayed with the Flying Dutchmen,” point guard Jason Hernandez said. “It’s a little more colorful.”

School officials decided on the change before the current school year, saying Pride was more meaningful. Hofstra’s longtime logo features two lions, and “a pride” is a pack of lions.

The change, though, has caused confusion. ESPN televised the America East Conference championship game Saturday and had cued up a Flying Dutchmen graphic. Minutes before tipoff, the network checked with school officials, learned they preferred Pride and made a hurried adjustment.

“I went in the production truck and they asked which name we wanted,” said Jeremy Kniffin, who oversees media relations for the basketball team. “I told them Pride and, boom, there we were. The name changed on the screen, just like that.”

Located in Hempstead, N.Y., a half-hour drive from Manhattan--in good traffic--Hofstra has an enrollment of 12,800 and counts actress Madeline Kahn and director Francis Ford Copolla among famous alumni.

Guard Speedy Claxton, a first-round pick of the Philadelphia 76ers last year, attended Hofstra. But the school hosts New York Jet training camp and is better known for its pro football players, among them Jet receiver Wayne Chrebet and current San Francisco 49ers Dave Fiore, Lance Schulters and Giovanni Carmazzi.

Comedian Bill Cosby, a former Temple football player, refers to Hofstra on his album--”Why Is There Air?”--and talks about repeated beatings at the hands of the Flying Dutchmen.

“I have never seen guys so big before in my life,” he says in the skit. “They just brought 11 guys with them. Smallest guy on the squad was 6-1, 490 pounds. He was a halfback. Ran the 100 in 9.1. Had long teeth hanging out of his mouth. Every one of them just had one eye in the center of their forehead.

“The coach was beating them onto the field with a ball and chain, hitting them smack in the back of the head. ‘Get out there!’ Pow. ‘C’mon, Igor!’ Pow. ‘Let’s do it, Igor!’ Pow. Our first team said, ‘Oh, God, don’t look at them! If you don’t look at them, you won’t get scared!’ Second team went crazy, guys ripping their clothes off, ‘I can’t play naked!’ ”