After 'Indian' Is Dropped, The Search Is On For A New Mascot

GUILFORD, CT — Following the Board of Education decision late last month to drop the "Indian" mascot at Guilford High School, schools are asking for the community's input on choosing a new mascot.

There have already been more than 250 suggestions so far. And while many are characters and animals, some are inanimate objects and, one of that has been suggested by a number of people: the Guilford Greens.

As was reported by Patch, after advisory opinions from the town's Human Rights Commission, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, and myriad Indian mascot experts, the board voted unanimously June 29 to drop the school's Indian mascot and nickname during a special meeting Monday live-streamed on YouTube and watched by nearly 200 people.

Schools superintendent Paul Freeman's recommendation was to "immediately discontinue the use of Indian as Guilford mascot."

Here's his full letter:

GPS Superintendent Dr. Paul... by Ellyn Santiago on Scribd

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Now, it's time to pick a new mascot.

In an open letter to the community, Guilford High School principal Julia Chaffe invites "anyone who is interested to engage in this process in one of two ways:• Send your ideas for a new mascot to mascot@guilfordschools.org• Volunteer to participate in a mascot search committee representing groups of stakeholders by emailing chaffej@guilfordschools.org"

"Our community has the opportunity to come together around a common purpose, identifying a new mascot for Guilford High School, following this past Monday’s unanimous decision by the Board of Education to discontinue the Indian as our school’s moniker. This decision was made after much input from Native American tribes, experts on racism and cultures, community members, and many students (past and present), most of whom encouraged the Board to change the mascot. As a school we are committed to honoring Native Americans by educating students in our classrooms, and providing teachers with educational support and resources to expand these important conversations," she wrote.

"I am proud to lead our community in an inclusive process to determine the new mascot for our high school."

Getting involved

People may email their ideas or, volunteer to be part of the mascot search committee. The committee's charge is to "pare the mascot suggestions down to finalists, the number of which will depend on the ideas submitted. The finalists will then be presented to our high school students (current and future) to rank and then vote on a winner."

"Symbols and mascots should bind us together as a community, not divide us. The symbols we embrace matter. They have the power to bring us back to the incredible connection of a common experience. This is our moment to think about who we want to be as a school community by choosing a mascot that unifies all of us as a community," Chaffe wrote.

Monday at a board policy meeting Freeman said that it's important to be careful about unintended meanings, and half-jokingly said a Pokémon is not perhaps the best candidates. All other six schools use animals as their mascot.

Freeman said a "sports reporter from NBC" called to see how Guilford's handling the mascot change. And he said many other school districts have reached out for guidance.

. "This choice can last our community for another 70years," he said.

They hope to have the mascot named for fall.

For all the details, visit the district's webpage here.