With November being National Native American Heritage month, one Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 school board member is requesting to remove the Manhattan High School Indian mascot.
Board Vice President Kristin Brighton brought up the subject during Wednesday’s meeting.
Brighton says settling this debate will show the board’s commitment to creating an environment where all cultures are respected, which is hard to do with the mascot.
The mascot becomes “the elephant in the room” when discussing diversity related topics.
The mascot was introduced in 1940 as a tribute to Coach Frank Prentup, but was originally the Junior Wildcats.
Brighton says they need to be teaching about different cultures anyway, so that is separate from the mascot issue. Brighton is encouraging her fellow board members to take this unsettled issue off the table for good.
Brighton wants to bring in the two newly elected board members and administration to discuss a policy to prohibit the use of human beings as mascots.
