Penn Hills School District forms committee to address possible mascot, nickname change

A committee has been formed to discuss the future of the Penn Hills School District’s Indian mascot.

The school board approved its members Nov. 24.

They include Class of 2020 student school board representatives Faith Crawford and Cassidy Byrnes; elementary parent Lauren Javens; high school counselor Amy Alexander; high school parent Noel Roach; alumnus and parent of alumni Bill Navari; and boys varsity basketball coach Chris Giles.

No school board members were named to the committee, which was by design.

“I don’t think the school board should have anything to do with it,” board President Erin Vecchio said. “It should be a community action, not ours.”

The committee is expected to make a recommendation about the future of the mascot in May.

Its meetings will be monthly starting in December. It is unclear if they will be open to the public.

Vecchio said the committee meeting minutes should at least be posted like other school board committees, and would support a town hall discussion about the mascot prior to the May presentation.

“We need the public’s input,” Vecchio said.

Penn Hills nearly became the second WPIAL school to drop its Indians nickname earlier this year.

Shady Side Academy dropped the nickname in July.

The Indians nickname, logo and mascot were a major topic of discussion at Penn Hills’ August athletic committee meeting.

Several alumni and parents spoke then about the district’s history, and how they will “always be a Penn Hills Indian.”

Other speakers such as parent Angela Adler, professor of sociology of sport and doctorate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, talked about changing indigenous mascots. She referenced several studies and reports that show Native Americans oppose the use of such mascots and find them offensive.

Adler also included brief history lessons on how tens of millions of indigenous people were killed by European colonization.

Board member Rob Marra acknowledged those reports but cited ones regarding the Seminole Tribe of Florida supporting Florida State University’s Seminole name.

The board eventually moved to postpone any action regarding its mascot and related materials to next year in order to focus on providing education during the covid-19 pandemic.

Penn Hills Athletic Director Stephanie Strauss recommended dropping the Indians nickname and changing its related images earlier this year.

She said the idea came from talks with other community members, as well as the national discussion of the NFL’s Washington Redskins changing their name to the Washington Football Team this season as it seeks to replace its longstanding logo.

Strauss said that she will serve as the ad hoc committee’s secretary, but will remain neutral on any decision-making.

“I’m excited to see what the committee comes up with,” Strauss said. “I think we have a great group of people who will work together to come up with a recommendation to the board in May.”

Marra supports having a committee outside the school board address the mascot issue.

“They’re going to get both sides of the thing and collect information,” Marra said. “How they’re going to run it I don’t know. They’ll report back in the spring and we’ll take it up then.”