CCS board meeting
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
SCHOOL BOARD VOTES, 6-1,
TO END 'REDSKIN' NICKNAME
COOPERSTOWN
With one dissenting vote, the Cooperstown Central school board this evening dispatched "Redskin": As of June 30, it will be the nickname of CCS athletic teams no more.
However, it did not name a substitute. School board President David Borgstrom said there is no timeline to do so. "We will continue to review all nicknames," he said. He did note that Doug George (Kanentiio), a Mohawk who has served as a New York State Historical Association educator, would hold three meetings with students Monday as CCS begins intensifying efforts to teach local history.
The name goes, but not the logo. For now, the intent is to maintain the image on the school seal based on "The Indian Hunter," the statue in Lakefront Park.
After a month of intense meetings, the board's Public Relations Committee came to bury "Redskin," but also to praise it: Before eliminating the nickname, the school board passed a resolution honoring it as "giving form and substance to the competitive nature, institutional pride and indomitable spirit that characterizes the student body, past and present."
The resolution passed unanimously – some audience members for a moment seemed to conclude the school board intended to keep "Redskin," and there were gasps.
Then Jean Schifano, Public Relations chair, read the second resolution, and the intent became clear. But when it was proposed, board member Tony Scalici, former board president, read a statement saying that name-change discussion in 2001 and now featured "opinion, projection, emotion and shades of moral judgment – very thorny stuff."
"The only certainty I can conclude on evidence is that Cooperstown people (past, present and future) never did or would project any meaning other than endearment and pride. My vote against this resolution is rooted in that certainly and is cast to represent the many who would hold onto what I believe is an honorable nickname for the school," said Scalici.
This evening's meeting was calm compared to one a month ago, where some 120 residents pleaded for the name change or stalwartly defended the tradition. Of three dozen people present tonight, only three spoke.
Alumna Barbara Tongue had circulated a petition that said, "please, let's keep our dear Redskin," and she declared, "People can ascribe any meaning to any word." She argued for "pride, community, tradition."
Peg Odell, mother of CCS students and a former PTO president, applauded the board, anticipating "Redskin" would go. Athletes, she said, are "playing for their school, playing for their team, playing for their family. They are not playing for their mascot."
Chad Welch, CCS Alumni Association vice president, had participated in several meetings held by Schifano's committee in the past month, including consultations with Village Historian Hugh MacDougall and Barb Tongue. He learned there were "so many people on both sides of the issue."