Schools could again sport early moniker
Natick panel has change of heart over team name
NATICK - They thought they would become the Hawks, following a January vote, but the Natick Redmen could soon be again known as Red and Blue, the sports teams' earliest moniker, following the surprise change of heart yesterday of a town task force charged with looking for a new name.
The panel of school officials, parents, students, and booster club volunteers agreed, 4 to 3, to jettison the recent decision favoring Hawks during a vote that had been scheduled only to correct a procedural error.
Instead, the group turned back the clock to reintroduce the earliest nickname for Natick's school sports teams, whose graduates include such famous Redmen as Doug Flutie, a former Boston College and NFL quarterback.
Last year, the Natick School Committee voted to drop the popular 50-year-old nickname because of perceptions it denigrates Native Americans. Many school districts locally around the country are having similar discussions. On Thursday, for example, the Nauset Regional School Committee in Orleans voted 5 to 3 with one abstention to discontinue the use of its sports logo, Warriors.
"There is no doubt that the people of Natick want Redmen to stand," said task force member Paul Adams, during yesterday's forum. Redmen is his favorite, as well, Adams admitted. "But, Red and Blue is the way to go."
The gathering was supposed to be a redo of a January vote that was not adequately publicized. "It was purely a clerical error," said Joseph Keefe, interim Superintendent of Schools, as he opened the forum. "It was not intentional."
But a handful of speakers questioned the process that winnowed a raft of suggestions over the months to the short list of "Red and Blue," "Pride," "Big Red," and "Red Hawks," which was further whittled to "Hawks."
"I did vote for Hawks, but after thinking about it, I just can't go for it," said panelist Paul Peters, who made the motion to accept the old name. "We're getting away from everything that is Natick. And what is Natick is Red and Blue."
Some residents argued that the right to choose a name had been stolen from the students, who wear the uniforms and march in the school band.
"My sole interest is with the student athletes who I work with closely and who would like everything to stay the way it is," said Steve Peckham, a volunteer with the high school football team.
In recent months as the discussion over the Redmen has raged, Rosita Andrews, who is also known as Chief Caring Hands, leader of the Natick Praying Indians, has said use of the name would be hurtful and offensive. Also a member of the logo task force, Andrews's absence yesterday was noted and questioned by several speakers. She could not be reached by the Globe for comment.
Jimmy Brown, vice chairman of the group Redmen Forever, has ardently argued that the name embodies the town's very character and identity. Brown and his colleagues have successfully placed a nonbinding referendum on the town's March 25 ballot, asking residents whether they think the School Committee should reconsider its decision to forsake the Redmen name. "I question if you are willing to present to the students the same question that is going to be on the ballot, to see what their feelings would be about that," Brown said to the task force. "And I ask you to consider a no-recommendation today."
The Hawks' name has been criticized for not reflecting the "heart and soul" of Natick. It had been shortened from Red Hawks, but some on the task force felt that it would be incorrect to use the name of a bird for which Natick is not known.
Task force chairman Zack Galvin, a Natick High vice principal, said the January vote to recommend "Hawks" was nonbinding.
A resident, Peter Golden, warned opponents of changing the Redmen name that school districts must follow antidiscriminatory policies set by federal law. If not, he said, someone will sue "within weeks, if not days, of these proceedings."
The task force also voted yesterday to establish a contest for youngsters in grades 8-12 to design a new logo for the Red and Blue name.
Both votes will be submitted to the School Committee for its consideration. 