I have many fond memories of my days at the University of Denver in the early 1970s. We had some great Pioneer hockey teams back then with future NHL stars like Pete McNab and Ron Grahame, led by legendary coach Murray Armstrong.

I remember the pep band precariously perched on a narrow, elevated platform against the wall on the south end of the old hockey arena, a converted World War II Navy surplus airplane hangar. Since it was the '70s, there was even the occasional streaker running across the ice between periods. And, of course, there was "Denver Boone," the cheerleading DU mascot, a costumed caricature of a smiling, bearded pioneer, with a coonskin cap sitting atop a greatly oversized head. Boone's image even graced the jerseys of DU sports teams.

Boone served DU faithfully from 1968 to 1998. And then his heartwarming smile turned to a frown as Boone was unceremoniously expelled. A recent effort supported by 87 percent of students and alumni to reclaim Boone was spurned by the school's ironically named "History and Traditions Task Force," whose mission apparently is to dump history and tradition into an Orwellian memory hole.

As reported by Valerie Richardson in The Washington Times, the task force rejected Boone's appeal on grounds of political correctness "after critics argued that he represented an era of Western imperialism and was offensive to women and minority groups." DU Chancellor Robert Coombe worried that Boone didn't reflect the "broad diversity" of the DU community who couldn't relate to his image of the pioneering spirit. This was echoed by student body president Monica Kumar, who sanctimoniously declared, "The name 'Boone' is linked to Daniel Boone, and to people of Native American ancestry it's sensitive because he was part of a movement that pushed Native Americans aside."

Nevertheless, DU teams will continue to be known as the Pioneers. It's only Boone the mascot that's taking the fall. What babble and hypocrisy.

The Princess of PC, Kumar has a ready answer for that. "We see 'pioneer,' " she asserted, "as moving forward in the world and making a positive mark on history as opposed to the traditional definition of 'pioneer.' "

Gag me with a coonskin cap. Who empowered her, or anybody else, to change the historic definition of "pioneer"? Daniel Boone is, in fact, part of our nation's history, and a positive part, for that matter.

Denver was originally settled by pioneers, to the great benefit of today's Denverites. If some Indians, minorities or women are offended by this and by our nation's inevitable westward expansion in the 19th century that's their problem.

The foundation of political correctness is the accommodation of unreasonable grievances, like this one, and the false premise that hypersensitive individuals and groups possess some inalienable right to be protected from any kind of speech or expression that might conceivably offend them. Hey, it's your prerogative to take offense at just about anything, and it's the prerogative of others to reject your complaint if they believe it's unjustified. There's a difference between subjective hypersensitivity and something that's objectively offensive to reasonable people. By that latter measure, Boone isn't offensive.

The nicknames of collegiate sports teams and their mascots have no duty to be all-inclusive, diverse or to indulge liberal guilt. Notre Dame is still the Fighting Irish. Should the Holy Cross Crusaders give up their name if a Muslim takes offense? What if an Indian complains about the University of Wyoming Cowboys? Or a cowboy protests the North Dakota Fighting Sioux? I'll leave objections about the USC Trojans to your imagination.

Boone's fate at DU isn't a trivial matter. It's an opportunity to reverse the tide of identity politics and insufferable political correctness on at least one college campus. If I were DU's chancellor, I'd listen more attentively to the common-sense urgings of the great majority of alumni and students, and welcome Boone back with open arms.

Mike Rosen's radio show airs weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon on 850 KOA. He can be reached by e-mail at mikerosen@850koa.com.