I AM disappointed by Amherst College’s decision to drop Lord Jeff as its mascot due to student outcry. I wish students would focus their energies on 21st century issues facing universities and the greater community. It’s true that Lord Jeffrey Amherst is not a man we would honor. Our colonial day heroes lived in a world when slave holding was commonplace and equality between man and woman a distant revolution to come. Few would pass muster today.

Amherst College and its alumni have redefined Lord Jeff. On the field and in the board rooms their good name has made Lord Jeff synonymous with honorable and intelligent people. When we hear Lord Jeff today we think of a quaint inn in Amherst or the good people of Amherst College. Few people recall an 18th century British general, determined to extinguish Native Americans with biological warfare. This episode took the time of faculty, administrators, the press, students and others for small gain.

Peter J . Atkinson

Salem