RHAM officially the Raptors
First state school to move from Native American mascot
RHAM High has become the latest Connecticut school to drop its Native American mascot, officially changing to the Raptors, athletic director Daniel Trudeau told The Courant on Tuesday.
The Regional School District No. 8 Board of Education initially green-lighted the initiation of a process to introduce a new mascot on Feb. 24, prompting a lengthy selection process that culminated in the official adoption of the Raptors on Monday night, Trudeau confirmed in an email. The school serves Hebron, Andover and Marlborough.
“We’re excited to announce that RHAM has changed our mascot… to the Raptors,” he said. “Over the coming weeks, we’re planning to work with our student-athletes and other student groups to develop our logo that we want to be representative of our school community, academics, and athletic teams. As this was in motion prior to the pandemic changing all of our plans for the spring, the process has been a fun and exciting diversion for us.”
Eighteen public schools throughout the state — including Killingly, whose Board of Education voted to restore its mascot after its initial removal — still use nicknames and/or imagery evoking indigenous peoples. Though RHAM had previously changed its logo to a yellow “R,” the school had maintained a mascot that referred to the chiefs of the Algonquin tribes. There had also been a student-led initiative to change it in 2014 that was unsuccessful.
Trudeau said that a 50person committee worked towards facilitating the adoption of a new mascot for the upcoming school year and collected over 100 suggestions from the community. From that list, five finalists were chosen and were voted upon by 1,200 staff and students. Raptors, Trudeau said, ended up being a “student favorite.”
In January, local lawmakers floated the idea of introducing legislation that would ban the use of Native American nicknames and logos in Connecticut public schools, or possibly holding back funding from towns that use them. With the legislative session derailed due to the coronavirus pandemic, no formal legislation has been introduced. Around the same time, the Mohegan Tribe announced that it no longer supports the use of Native Americaninspired team names.