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MILWAUKEE -- Marquette University declined a $2 million donation offered to switch the school's nickname back to the Warriors, a decade after the university changed it to avoid offending American Indians.

Wayne Sanders, vice chairman of the Board of Trustees, made the offer during Marquette's commencement ceremony at the Bradley Center on Sunday. He and an unidentified fellow trustee would each donate $1 million.

"It deserves careful consideration, but we must remember that this decision is not about money," said the Rev. Robert Wild, Marquette's president. "It is about tradition, pride and respect for all members of the human community."

The school's nickname, logo and Indian mascot were changed to the Golden Eagles in 1994. Some have suggested the school should retain the Warriors nickname but change the American Indian imagery. Marquette had been the Warriors since 1954.

The offer surprised school administrators at the event, reported The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday. The university later released a statement saying that if the decision to change the mascot name would be revisited, "no change would be made that would compromise the dignity of any segment of our community."

But the 1994 change has been a sore point with some alumni, according to the newspaper, and Sanders, the former chairman and CEO of Kimberly-Clark Corp., met with warm applause among the commencement crowd.

School with mascots that have been deemed offensive have come under increasing pressure lately. In April, the Illinois legislature called for the University of Illinois to change its mascot, Chief Illiniwek, which the Senate president believes is offensive.

Also, the Iowa men's baseball team recently cancelled its scheduled games with the Bradley University Braves as a result of their university's 1994 policy that keeps them from scheduling nonconference games with teams that have American Indian mascots. The policy would allow the Hawkeyes to compete against their conference opponents the Fighting Illini, but not against the Florida State Seminoles.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.