Iron County School District votes against return to ‘Redmen’ mascot for Cedar High School
Apr 25, 2024, 12:27 PM
Cedar High School in Cedar City on April 7, 2021. The Iron County School Board on Tuesday voted 4-3 to retain "the Reds" as the official moniker and a wolf as the mascot of Cedar High School. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
CEDAR CITY — The Iron County School Board on Tuesday voted 4-3 to retain “the Reds” as the official moniker and a wolf as the mascot of Cedar High School.
Board members Jeff Corry, Dave Staheli and Stephanie Hill cast votes in favor of the school reinstating “Redmen” as their mascot.
In March, Corry, Staheli and Hill requested a proposal to reinstate the “Redmen” name — which was originally adopted in the 1940s — be placed on the board’s agenda.
The motion to reinstate the name failed, leading to a vote to place the issue of the school moniker and mascot on a ballot for voters to decide, but the board was ultimately advised by legal counsel that Utah law doesn’t allow such issues to be placed on a ballot.
Instead, it was up to the elected members of the board to decide, and the decision was made to remain the Reds.
In a letter sent to the board by the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, the Tribe’s council made its stance regarding a possible return to the old mascot clear.
“The term ‘Redmen’ is a term not recognized within Native American communities as paying respect to the history and legacy of this nation’s first people. But rather a slang term that has been used over 200 years to attribute racial defamation to Native people,” said the letter.
Furthermore, the letter raised concerns about Corry visiting reservation lands and going door-to-door asking for “Indians” to sign a petition in support of the name change, saying Corry “at no time” received approval from the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah Tribal Council to “visit and disrupt tribal members in their homes.”
“All Iron County School District School Board members shall understand that the tribal village and Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah band land areas are considered private and federal property,” said the letter. “Entering these lands without prior permission to lobby is considered trespassing and any person disobeying this recognition of private property will be treated as a trespasser.”
The latest decision from the board comes after a long saga dating back to 2019 when the board voted 3-2 to “respectfully retire” the longtime “Redmen” mascot.
The decision to retire the name five years ago came after a committee of students, teachers and tribal members voted 17-7 to recommend a mascot and moniker change.
But even since then, the topic has seemingly been hotly contested, with a release from the district saying the name change has “divided the county for years” and “the call for a reinstatement has been an ongoing topic in public comment.”
At least for now, the “Redmen” mascot will remain in the past, with the district sticking to its 2019 decision to retire the mascot.
Contributing: Marjorie Cortez
