Dickinson College’s ultimate Frisbee team held a vote to change their name from the Jive Turkeys to the Junkyard Turkeys on Wednesday, Sept. 5 according to Shannon Nolan ’19, president of the club sport team. 

The original name “is an offensive way to basically call someone a bullsh*tt*r” said Nolan. “We wanted to make sure that everyone felt welcome and included at practices and other events,” said Alison DiLello ’19, the girls team’s captain, as a reasoning for the name change.

The debate to change the team’s name has being going on for several years, but “in the spring we finally brought it to a constitutional vote, in which 2/3 of the team would have had to support the change,” said Nolan. Later, team members were given the opportunity to submit alternative names to be voted on explained DiLello. Nolan said that during the Sept. 5 meeting the name Junkyard Turkeys won with a 73 percent majority. Nolan explained that “honestly, [the new name] still maintains the spirit of our team.”

“The team has been handling the transition really well” said DiLello. Jessica Huang ’19, a member of the Junkyard team, said that “the group behind the name is the most important part, and it’s exciting that we get to be the ones who start the new cheers, chants and traditions associated with the group.” Although, as an environmental studies major, Huang “wish[ed] we picked something more eco-friendly than junkyard, but honestly the new name is what we make of it.”

“Ultimate is as much about fun and spirit as it is about  points and plays and I feel lucky all the time to have stumbled upon their table at activities fair as a first-year,” said Nolan.

The Junkyard Turkeys practice Monday through Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Dickinson Park or Moreland Field.