Molly Canyes ’15, Staff Writer
The new residential complex at Merrimack College has not been given a formal and official name. A majority of the students have referred to this complex as “The Warrior Village,” while others refer to the complex by House one, House two etc. There is a petition to the Faculty Senate of Merrimack College that argues against naming the new residential complex Warrior Village. “It is the sense of the senate that the expansion of the term ‘warrior’ beyond athletic enterprises at Merrimack College, in particular to the naming of a residence, is unseemly, and even the informal designation of venues and programs beyond athletics as ‘warrior’ should be avoided,” says Padraic O’Hare, a faculty member in Religious and Theological Studies. The petition is simply asking the college to bespeak its real values by naming the new residential facility after Augustinian friar, Reverend Kevin Dwyer, who served Merrimack College, its students and alumni. “Father Dwyer was and is revered by many alum over two full generations” says O’Hare. Other faculty members at Merrimack College have expressed their concern with naming the new residential complex “Warrior Village”. “There’s a profound ambiguity in connecting the handsome new buildings in the center of our campus to the idea of warrior. It is far more common to associate warriors with war,” states Arthur Ledoux, a faculty member in the Philosophy Department. David Raymond, professor from the Visual and Performing Arts Department mentions how the term ‘warrior’ “carries a glorification of combat”. In the Homecoming flyer sent out to families and alumni, the new complex was referred to as the “Residence Village”. It’s possible that this could be the new name but Merrimack College has not yet confirmed it.
