UPDATE: Petition to change Boyle County High School’s “rebel” mascot garners support

BOYLE COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – A petition started on June 28 to change Boyle County High School’s mascot, the ‘Rebel,’ is said to have collected the signatures and support of a coalition made up of over 180 students, alumni, former teachers, coaches, parents and other community members.

The coalition says discussion of the issue made its way onto the agenda of Thursday’s School-Based Decision Making Council meeting. It says the council decided to postpone discussion of the topic in order to collect more input.

Petitioners say that the mascot was adopted as area schools were integrated in 1963 and, from early on, bore a confederate flag, which they say can be easily interpreted as support for a legacy of racism and intolerance.

In a personal letter submitted to council, the council says alumnus Jordan Drake ’17, provided research demonstrating that the mascot was associated with the Confederacy from the school’s inception and states, “Traditions can be harmful and I believe the harm being done is more important than keeping the name of a school mascot.”

The council says Boyle County High School principal and council chair Mark Wade introduced the issue and moved to postpone the discussion, saying the school “seeks to understand and listen.” It says the motion was carried by council members and teachers Michelle Feistritzer and Eli Edwards, who added that he thought it was important to hear what students had to say on the matter.

According to the council, a working group of alumni who requested the item be added to the meeting’s agenda are requesting that a time table and outline of the decision-making process will be released shortly. “We hope to see a definitive plan for soliciting input and reaching a consensus in the next 30 days, and we plan to work closely with the council to ensure that happens,” says Liz Congleton, a spokesperson for the group. “We feel that the comments and personal statements contributed by our petitioners are worthy of consideration.” The council says the list of signatories includes alumni from as far back as 1966, as well as current students, parents and staff, as well as a former BCHS principal.

The council says Congleton adds, “Petitioners made it clear in their comments that the mascot makes them uncomfortable, and many people relayed first-hand accounts of the racism they witnessed or experienced at the school.” In a July 15 interview with WTVQ, author of the petition, Daniel Morgan, stated, “No student should feel ashamed of their mascot because that mascot represents people that wanted to maintain oppression of others.”

According to the council, organizers say that they will continue to advocate for this change, and remain optimistic that the council will make the right decision. It says spokesperson Leah Missik says, “We know that Mr. Wade and the SBDM council are committed to their responsibility to foster a supportive learning environment, and this change is a crucial step in that direction.”

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW:

BOYLE COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) — A petition we’ve been talking about this week to change the Boyle County High School mascot is gaining some standing with almost 200 signatures in just a few days, but it’s also starting an emotional debate in the county.

The Boyle County High School Rebels have been around since 1963.

“I was always glad when our uniforms didn’t have it on there it just said Boyle County,” says BCHS alum Daniel Morgan.

It took Morgan years to realize he might have the power to permanently remove “rebel” from those uniforms. He shares his thoughts in a letter here.

He wrote the online petition encouraging the district to drop the mascot. He’s not the first to bring up a change but any time it’s come up over the last several years nothing has changed and some people like it that way, arguing it’ll be too costly to make the change or ruin a tradition.

“My opinion is I don’t think we should ever change anything, you can’t change the past,” says Rodney Simpson.

Simpson doesn’t argue that past was problematic but doesn’t think changing a mascot will have much impact.

“If it’s gonna make things change but is it gonna make things change? That’s just my thought. I think if we’re gonna change it’s gonna start with ourselves,” says Simpson.

Others say it’s not about changing the past but instead making the future more welcoming.

Jordan Drake, a member of Danville’s “Black Lives Matter” group, says the mascot doesn’t do that for his friends of color.

“A lot of them felt ashamed. They feel hurt by it and that it brings up a lot of memories and feelings of what the rebels stood for,” says Drake.

He says the school really stood for the confederacy. Drake says yearbooks show confederate flags in classrooms, students holding the flag, and a confederate soldier on the cover. He wrote a letter with pictures here.

“To a lot of people it’s hurtful and it’s sort of celebrating what these confederate soldiers did,” says Drake.

Morgan says he wants that to change, not just as an alum, but also as a current high school history teacher in Louisville. He wants schools to be inclusive, open to all.

“No student should feel ashamed of their mascot because that mascot represents people that wanted to keep them oppressed,” says Morgan.

A spokesperson for the school district says if you want to see a change made, get in touch with the high school’s Site-Based Decision Making Council because that’s where the conversation starts.