New junior high mascots revealed

FAYETTEVILLE — It will be the Ramay Red Wolves and the Woodland Colts.

The School District on Friday announced the new mascots for its two junior high schools, ending a monthslong selection process.

Both schools accepted mascot suggestions for a month starting in August. Both then organized a committee to narrow the choices. The rest of the schools’ students and staff voted on the committees’ choices.

Ramay Junior High School’s choices were Red Wolves, Rams and Bison. Woodland Junior High School chose between Colts and Wolverines.

The new mascots will replace the Cowboys at Woodland and the Indians at Ramay, which have been in place since the schools opened in 1959 and 1966, respectively.

The School District started the process of replacing the mascots in response to concerns they didn’t align with the district’s mission statement, which calls on the schools to maintain an “inclusive and safe environment.”

The decision generated controversy. Woodland students launched an online petition to save their mascot that drew more than 1,600 signatures. Twelve community members, some for and some against the change, addressed the School Board in January.

The schools officially have retired the Cowboy and the Indian, though the transition to the Colts and Red Wolves will take place over the coming year and be complete by

next fall, said Holly Johnson, director of communications and public relations.

New logo proposals should be ready to share with the schools within the next month or two, she said.

Revamping the schools’ basketball courts to replace old mascots with the new ones will cost about $8,800 per gymnasium, according to district documents.

Seventh-grade uniforms don’t say Cowboys or Indians. The rest of the uniforms are being replaced next year on the regular replacement cycle, Johnson said.

Ramay is following in the footsteps of Arkansas State University, which also switched from Indians to Red Wolves in 2008.

Eighth-graders Cynthia Montiel and Jake Travis served on the Ramay committee narrowing the dozens of unique mascot suggestions to three. The committee made up of students, parents, staff members and alumni met three or four times, they said.

“I think the last meeting we had, narrowing the choices down from five to three, was the toughest for me, because the one I liked got cut,” said Jake, 13. His preference was Raptors.

Both students said they were sad to let go of Indians, but also agreed it was time to change.

Cynthia, 13, said she likes Red Wolves, in part because the school’s color is already red.

“I felt like bison were more like a calm animal, and we’re not really calm, we’re more active, and we’re very competitive here at Ramay,” she said. “And Rams, I thought, was a good choice, but I didn’t feel like it fit well with Ramay.”