Club Sports put Binghamton Unviersity’s club Frisbee team on probation this week because of complaints about the team name: BBC, or unofficially, Big Black Cocks.
The name “BBC” was created in fall 2004. While some say that it stands for the “Binghamton Bearcats,” many say the acronym stands for “Big Black Cocks.”
Only a few members are still around from when the name was created, but otherwise, the team name was inherited, team captain Jason Bunk explained. The team believes they are being treated unfairly because they did not create the name.
“We inherited it and now, almost five years later, we have to deal with the consequences,” Bunk said.
According to Assistant Director of Campus Recreational Services and Club Sports Craig Dube, the team can still practice and compete as a club. But since March, when the issue was first brought up, he has been working with the club leadership to rectify the name situation. The team received notification from Club Sports that the team name offended people, so they decided to begin the process of changing the name.
“I am very happy that they are working as well as they have been with us through this process,” Dube said.
Around the same time, Joshua Price, a BU philosophy professor who used to play with the team, sent Pipe Dream an e-mail expressing how he felt offended by the team name. The name “plays on racist stereotypes that are ugly,” he said. He had raised the issue before, but didn’t get far, he added.
“I think that the only attachment the team has to the name is sentimental,” said team member Rob Lu, a first year graduate student studying mechanical engineering. “We’ve had it for five years.”
Lu said if there was an issue with the name, it should have been brought to the table five years ago when the name was created.
After all, the club Frisbee team is a different team than it was four years ago, Bunk said. Not only has the team excelled in their ultimate Frisbee tournaments, they’ve also made it to regionals for the first time since the 1990s.
“All we care about is being the most competitive club that we can be,” Bunk said. “We care more about the ultimate [Frisbee] that we play than what we call ourselves.”
But that doesn’t cut it for Price.
“I wish that people would have their consciousness raised about how the name just replays ugly unfunny racist depictions of African American men,” Price said.
Price said he is aware that this argument can be “deflected” as a First Amendment issue or that the team may blame him for bringing it up. His idea of a “best-case scenario” situation would be if he and the team could discuss the issue and understand why the name’s wrong and offensive.
The club still has not settled on a name but is currently calling themselves “Binghamton Ultimate.” The team is hoping to get this issue resolved and continue their successful season.