In Radnor, debate over Raiders nickname rages
RADNOR » The debate over the use of the Raider as the Radnor mascot continued this week with another meeting lasting nearly five hours with little decided other than the meeting will be continued to another night.
With the clock getting close to the midnight hour and after having heard about 130 comments from students, parents, community members and alumni, the board voted to delay its discussion by recessing the meeting.
The meeting was to give the board the option of allowing the Raider to be considered as an option after it voted last year to ditch the name. The board will still consider the option, just not on this night. As of the paper’s deadline, the continued meeting has not yet been scheduled.
But what ended up taking center stage in comments from both the public and district officials was the adversarial nature of the recent comments.
Some of those adversarial comments continued during this week’s meeting as commenters continued to call the views of supporters of the Raider racists, bigoted and ignorant.
During Tuesday’s meeting, some of those supporting the Raider nickname fought back against the allegations.
Laura Ledauby was one of many residents asking the board to put the Raider name back on as an option for a vote. But the bulk of her comments focused more on the types of comments others were making.
“I know that when I come here to publicly give you my support for the Raider name, I know that I run the real risk of having those who disagree with me label me a racist or a Nazi or a white supremacist or all the above at once. And I am not being hyperbolic here. I have watched this go down in real time,” Lebaudy said.
“I have to tell you; I know I am none of those things. But here’s the thing, the accuser of racism doesn’t need to prove anything. They can just throw it out there, and it’s nearly impossible for me to prove that that’s wrong. How do I prove my thoughts? I can’t, and even if I could, the damage would already be done because the name is already out there. And that’s what makes this racist accusation so incredibly effective.”
With the allegations out in the public discourse, district Superintendent Ken Batchelor addressed those escalating tensions through a letter to the community sent out before the meeting.
In the letter, Batchelor acknowledged the increased tensions and the fact that they are aware of social media posts and exchanges that are taking place.
“I recognize our students, parents, community members, and alumni hold strong and differing views on all sides of the issue. However, escalating negative behavior damages the community spirit we wish to foster in Radnor. I have said that it is okay to disagree but let’s not be disagreeable. We can have differing views without being divisive. A Radnor education teaches our students to think for themselves, to listen to others and stand by their convictions,” he wrote.
Batchelor went on to ask “those with an interest in this matter to please engage in civil and respectful discourse with one another.
Please consider that posts on social media can often [inflame] and divide to a greater extent, especially if those posts share inaccuracies or insults. How we behave sets an example for our students.”
Although discussions over the use of the Raider name took off over the past year, the debate goes back a decade. The school ditched its Indian mascot nearly ten years ago. Still, Native American imagery could be found around the school. Last September, the board voted to eliminate all Native American imagery and to change the Raider nickname.
But the debate never really ended.
Although the board voted to change the name, many from the public said since the Raider name predated the Native American imagery by decades, the district could keep the nickname without the native imagery.
In April, the administration said the use of the Raider name would not be reconsidered. But then some board members asked that the issue be brought back for another round of discussion.
Tuesday’s meeting was for the school board to have the additional discussions and possibly allow the Raider name as an option that could be voted on. If the name Raider were selected, the district would get a consultation from the National Congress of American Indians on the rebranding to ensure it meets with their approval.
But after the public made approximately 130 comments, the board decided to hold off on its discussion and recessed the meeting.