Monday marks the final day in which members of the Holy Cross College community can share its opinions on the appropriateness of the school’s “Crusader” nickname before the institution forwards them to its board of trustees.

The Jesuit college considers the change in an effort to show sensitivity to Muslims, whom the crusaders sought to expel from the Holy Land.

The Holy Cross Crusaders, which competes in the Patriot League, boasts a baseball and basketball national championship, such alumni as Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Bob Cousy and Heisman Trophy finalist Gordie Lockbaum, and more varsity sports per student than any other school in the United States. It remains one of two major collegiate sports programs, along with the Lutheran-affiliated Valparaiso University, to use the “Crusaders” moniker.

The school closed its online feedback for members of its community to “weigh in on the appropriateness or inappropriateness of the Crusader moniker and mascot” on Sunday. It continues to collect responses through the mail and by other means through Monday. The Worcester, Massachusetts, college aims to present the responses to its board of trustees as the body decides whether to keep or kill the nickname.

“We do not believe that a Crusader for love or social justice is bad,” two students wrote in the student newspaper earlier this month, “but the mascot points strictly to the historical reference of slaughters. To change the mascot without changing the moniker seems difficult, as we want a mascot that can actually rally us at sporting events and in other contexts.”

Like the school itself, that student newspaper ponders a name change.

“The Crusader was named in 1955, when Holy Cross was a homogenous place, filled with almost entirely white, Catholic men,” the editor of the paper, previously named The Tomahawk, wrote earlier this semester. “Now that the school is far more diverse, it only makes sense to consistently evaluate the vestiges from a less inclusive time.”

More than a dozen schools compete with mascots and nicknames altered from their originals in response to claims that they offended Native Americans. Dartmouth jettisoned “Indians” in favor of “Big Green.” St. John’s replaced “Redmen” with “Red Storm.” Marquette traded “Warriors” for “Golden Eagles.”

Such changes began in the late 1960s. The movement to eliminate “crusader” more recently gained momentum.

Several schools using the “Crusader” nickname opted to abandon it in recent years to show sensitivity to Muslims. Eastern Nazarene College, about 50 miles east of Holy Cross, went from “Crusaders” to “Lions,” for instance, and Wheaton College in Illinois became the “Thunder” after abandoning the controversial moniker.

“The Crusader name is an undeniable part of Holy Cross’ history,” the school’s website notes. “It has been in use since 1920, when the College first used it in reference to the athletic teams. Since then, students have adopted the name for their own clubs and organizations, even in representing our community as ‘Sader Nation. And, unlike many mascots, the Crusader has a direct link to our religious identity.”