One the whole, like welsh wasp says, this seems like the worst of all possible positions they could have taken. On the one hand they’ve accepted that part of their brand is offensive enough to be removed ‘out of respect’, but on the other they've arbitrarily insisted all the other parts are ‘highly respectful’.
Up to this point there has been an (albeit poor) excuse of harmless ignorance, but now they have, to an extent, acknowledged the existence of over 50 years of indigenous opposition to these dehumanizing mascots, while effectively claiming that the Exeter boardroom know more than, or have the right to dictate to, those same indigenous voices about how a racial stereotype of them should be received.
I’m afraid to say that this looks to me like a perfect example of arrogant white superiority in action.