The College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts has decided to abandon their historic mascot, The Crusader.

The Jesuit school said they had decided to retire its beloved Knight for the sake of “inter-religious understanding and dialogue.”

“For some, knight imagery alone could convey nobility, chivalry and bravery. However, the visual depiction of a knight, in conjunction with the moniker Crusader, inevitably ties us directly to the reality of the religious wars and the violence of the Crusades. This imagery stands in contrast to our stated values,” College president Philip Boroughs said in a statement.

Apparently the College is going to retain the name Crusaders, but the mascot — Iggy the Knight — will no longer grace the field.

In the modern politically correct climate, it may have been only a matter of time before social sensitivities overcame tradition — as well as the greater story behind the history of Christianity, chivalry, knighthood, and, yes, the Crusades.

To that point, Holy Cross has a Navy ROTC program that, miraculously, has seemed to avoid the ire of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, despite its overtly Christian symbology associated with the US military program.

In the end, it’s just a mascot. Isn’t it?

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