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UPDATE: With a unanimous vote Tuesday, Jan. 26, the Jackson County Public School Board ruled to retire the Rebel mascot, logo and name from Cullowhee Valley Elementary School. Our group will partner with county residents and school supporters to raise funds for school upgrades, signage and other items.
Please consider supporting their fundraising effort, by visiting their GoFundMe page!
Help Cullowhee Valley School Adopt a New Mascot
https://www.gofundme.com/f/CVSmascot
EXCERPTS FROM
Cullowhee Valley retires controversial mascot - Smokey Mountain News - January 28, 2021
“Cullowhee Valley School had used the Rebel mascot since 1958, four years after the Brown V. Board of Education supreme court decision that deemed school segregation illegal. In 1994, when the Camp Lab school closed and Cullowhee Valley School opened, there was some discussion within the community about changing the mascot, but ultimately, CVS remained the Rebels.”
”At the school board meeting Tuesday night, Kelle Dinkelmeyer spoke in support of retiring the mascot. Though she is not from Jackson County, she says, she grew up immersed in southern culture. She said that in speaking to her daughter and her daughter’s friends, who attend CVS, she knows that many of the students there see the mascot as a symbol of hate.”... “It’s not really a mascot, it’s a piece of adult nostalgia,” said Dinkelmeyer.”
Emily Virtue, a parent at Cullowhee Valley and a professor of education leadership, presented the petition with McCord.
“It is not an image of pride, it is an image of power and divisiveness. It reminds us that at one time, white power over black people was valued and keeping this mascot we continue to send that same message, at least implicitly, that we value the concept of power over black people, more than we value black people themselves,” Virtue said.
”The motion stated that the mascot, name and logo at CVS be discontinued and that the students at CVS be permitted to select a new logo by no later than the start of the 2021-2022 school year. The timeline and process for selection by the student body will be left to the discretion of the superintendent and the administration of CVS.”