A group of students in Manchester are fighting to have their school's mascot changed after they said it was offensive and they are holding a forum on Wednesday to get feedback from the community.
Manchester High School's mascot has been an Indian since 1949, but now students are pushing for a change. They are holding a community forum on Wednesday night and plan to propose changing the school's nickname from the Indians to the Red Hawks.
Manchester students have taken several steps since the Spring of 2018 including a student organized walkout in March of 2018.
A 2019 student survey revealed 14-percent opposed the change, 57-percent were in favor and 28-percent were neutral.
Manchester is not alone. Killingly High School's mascot is the Redmen. Earlier this month, two students approached the Killingly Board of Education about changing that.
School Superintendent Steve Rioux said the mascot has been question in the past, but at this point, it's too early to tell what will happen with this proposal.
Meanwhile, Manchester students reached out to Chris Newell of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation for perspective. According to Newell, Native mascots "misrepresent and caricature a living, breathing set of multiple cultures, leading to stereotyping."
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The community forum will be in Room 293 of the Freshman Center, which is on the Summit Street side of the high school. It is set to begin at 6 p.m.
