A Review of our High School Mascot, The American Indian
The Lenape Indians occupied the Philadelphia area almost 10,000 years before Europeans came to the region. The Lenape Indians today can be found in small enclaves across the U.S. and Canada. The largest populations reside mainly in Oklahoma and Ontario, Canada, with families and individual tribal members scattered across North America.
Unionville High School Mascot History March 4, 1920 - East Marlborough, Newlin and Pocopson aligned to form the first joint school in Pennsylvania. 1923 - The Unionville Joint Consolidated School was opened in September for grades 1 to 12 1925 - The Chadds Ford School opened for students in the townships of Pennsbury, Birmingham Chester County, and Birmingham Delaware County for grades 1 to 10. 1954 - Our seven townships became Unionville-Chadds Ford School District. This is when the American Indian was adopted as the school’s mascot 1959 - New Unionville High School was opened
Unionville High School Mascot History 1980’s - Students would use a stereotypical Indian “war cry” (hand over mouth) 2000’s - Band would play and students would sing along to a “chop song” popularized by the Atlanta Braves. 2015 - New “U” logo adopted. Phased approach to update uniforms & facilities 2017 - “Hype leader” student section leader with headdress is no longer permitted 2017 - Indian caricatures, iconography, songs/chants are no longer permitted. Gym banners updated 2018 - Identity Council conducts a comprehensive mascot study in partnership with UPenn
Current Status Students, staff, community, and alumni feel Students, staff, community, and alumni strongly about keeping the mascot: feel strongly about changing the mascot: - “Offensive imagery” - “Honoring the Lenni-Lenape” - “Misrepresentation of people who are - “UCF & Chester County history & from the country India” heritage” - “School pride is lost” - “It’s tradition” - “Disrespectful to Native Americans” - “Worry that history will be forgotten” - “Using people as mascots is inappropriate” ● The District has initiated conversation with Lenape Indian tribal leaders and heard from people of the indigenous population who live in our community and attend our schools.
Our path forward... Step 1 - Thorough review of all feedback, surveys, and information from previous mascot discussions, including the 2018 UPenn and Identity Council work Step 2 - Host a community conversation scheduled for July 30th, details to follow Step 3 - Additional conversations with Tribal Leadership Step 4 - Make an administrative recommendation at the August 2020 board meeting: To keep the American Indian as the Unionville High School mascot ● To retire the American Indian as the Unionville High School mascot, in which a ● subsequent committee would be charged with selecting a new mascot. Step 5 - Collaborate and implement new ways of honoring the Lenape Indians.
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