After more than a year off from writing this column, I’m back!

Thought you’d gotten rid of me for good? You couldn’t get that lucky, as I have agreed to pen the column bi-weekly, bringing you updates from Chowan University and the athletic department with the usual flair of what was formerly known as the ‘Tomahawk Talk’.

(Please hold all applause until the end of the column, thank you.)

If you have been reading the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald, then of course you know about the grand changes that Chowan has seen over the course of the past two months.

But if you have been on jury duty in a high profile case for the past three months here’s the scoop in a nutshell-CHOWAN COLLEGE is now CHOWAN UNIVERSITY and we are no longer the BRAVES, we are the HAWKS.

Since we are SOARING with not only a UNIVERSITY name change but also a nickname change, I have plenty of dirt to keep you enticed until the sports seasons kick off in late August.

The new nickname…After announcing on April 6th that Chowan College would now be known as Chowan University, President Chris White told the gathered crowd that a nickname change announcement would soon follow on May 4.

Many scoffed, and some still do, at the idea of a nickname change but after the NCAA’s recent ruling on Native American nicknames and mascots as being hostile and aggressive, a change was in order for Chowan University.

As part of a PR blitz and to create some buzz around the campus community, College PR rep Sarah Ward and I tasked some of the student body to create rumors that Dr. White was tossing a coin between the Chowan Chickens and the Chowan Fighting Squirrels.

It was great. The groups plastered campus with posters and signs with fighting squirrels and yellow chickens. Some students even showed up to the May 4 press conference wearing Chowan Chickens or Fighting Squirrels t-shirts.

As promised on May 4, Dr. White unveiled the new nickname and showed another gathered and curious crowd Chowan’s new logo-a beautiful, majestic Hawk’s head nestled in the old logo of a &uot;C&uot; with two feathers attached.

Wow – after months of anticipation, there it was, our new nickname and logo. In my mind, the Hawk logo was perfect.

It gave a solid but not viscous stare, holding true to the notion that Hawks have a keen sense of vision. There were no daunting talons; no poor mice dangling from its feet, just a proud Hawk with a stare that held my eyes for more than a minute.

As a Chowan alumna, I was at first skeptical of all of the change that was going on. Every week my mailbox was stuffed with some sort of alumni mailer mentioning something new and different that was happening on campus.

What was wrong with being a Brave or a College anyways? But after seeing the Hawk for the first time my mind changed in a split second.

The stare of the Hawk in the new logo was all I needed to see to jump on the bandwagon. Chowan’s future is representative in the stare of the Hawk in our new logo-bold, directed, and something to be proud of.

Give it time folks, soon Chowan University Hawks will roll off your tongues just as smooth as Chowan College Braves did!

What’s in store….I have all summer to fill you in on all the happenings within our department and on our campus!

Be sure to check out our website at www.chowan.edu for our summer sports camp information.

I will be back two weeks from today bringing you news on new department hires, upcoming sports schedules, and our transition from DIII to DII!

Until then-GO HAWKS!

You can reach Meredith Long at sports@r-cnews.com.