Sandusky mascot search narrowed to 5

It has been six months since the Sandusky school board announced it would be retiring the Redskin mascot and the search for a new one is still ongoing.

At the Oct. 17 Sandusky school board meeting, the mascot search committee gave an update on finding a new mascot for the district. The committee is made up of three board members, two Sandusky staff members, Sandusky students and one community member. The board members on the committee are Carolyn Stoutenburg, Daniel Gerstenberger and Jane Jacobson.

The committee announced they have narrowed down five potential mascots for the Sandusky school district. However, the nominations have not been made public. The committee first wants to create potential logos for the nominations before bringing them to the district and community for feedback.  

“At their next meeting, they asked the students on the committee to come with some imagery for the mascots and reasons why each of the five would be a good representation of the community and the school district,” Superintendent Paul Flynn said.

After evaluating the logos, the committee will narrow it down to three potential mascots. The committee will then make the potential mascots public, and the community can provide feedback.

The board announced it would retire the Redskins mascot in April as a way to recognize changed perceptions towards Native American imagery.

In July, the board announced it would pause further spending on the rebrand. At the time, the district had spent $9,000 on the process, which included removing the Redskins logo from the walls and high school gym floor. The board also applied for the for a grant from the Michigan Native American Heritage Fund to cover expenses but was denied.

The district has also removed the logo from some of its athletic uniforms. At this time, the district is evaluating winter and spring athletic uniforms to see what exactly needs to be replaced.

Spending is still suspended for now. Flynn said the board has not discussed applying for a different grant or when spending would resume. The rebrand process was estimated to cost $160,000.

The board members on the mascot search committee did not respond to requests for comment from the Times Herald as of publication.

Some residents pushing back on change

The board's decision to retire the Redskins mascot is being met with opposition from some members of the community. Sandusky resident Rick Speigel said the community who wants to keep the Redskins mascot does not feel listened to by the board. He created a Facebook group called Save Our Mascot to discuss and send surveys out to get community opinion. As of Oct. 19, the group has received 274 answered surveys, with 257 voting to keep the mascot and 17 voting to retire it.

"We figured this would be the safest and least prejudiced way of getting responses," Speigel said.

Speigel said Sandusky has been the Redskins since the 1940's. He said Redskin pride and spirit run deep in the community, alumni and current students. He said name and imagery of the mascot were never meant or used to offend anyone, but rather used with great pride.

"We feel we should embrace our history and stand strong as the Redskin warriors that we are and teach future generations that we are Redskin proud, not tear it down and replace it," Speigel said.

Speigel said the issue is more than the mascot. He and other community members do not like that the logo has been removed from many parts of the district. Speigel said getting rid of the mascot is erasing the district's history and identity.

"In today's climate, we need to teach our children to be warriors so that they grow into adults that can protect themselves," he said.

The group is still taking survey answers from the Sandusky community. Speigel said he has taken the survey results to the board.

The mascot search committee presents an update to the board at every monthly meeting. The next Sandusky school board meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 21 in the Sandusky High School conference room.

Contact McKenna Golat at mgolat@gannett.com or (810) 292-0122.