Changing the mascot at John Burroughs High School has been an ongoing discussion for many years. The process of changing the mascot begins with the Associated Student Body (ASB) and is outlined in the ASB constitution. Over the past three years, our School Site Council and ASB have been researching the matter, which included communication with Native American Organizations and communication with both current and former students. The first step in the process is to have a formal vote by the ASB Executive Council. The vote would determine whether or not the decision to change the mascot should be brought to the larger student body. On September 1, 2020, our ASB Executive Council voted to have our current student body determine if the Indian mascot is what they want to use to represent John Burroughs High School.
The next step in the process is to provide resources and information to the student body regarding our current mascot. A mascot committee was formed to facilitate the process. On September 22, 2020, ASB put out a statement about the mascot to the student body with a Google Form for feedback and questions. ASB met again with the Tataviam Tribe to discuss the impact of Indian mascots on Native Americans so that their decision-making process would be informed. At the end of October, ASB created a website page dedicated to the topic of the mascot with links to submit statements for or against keeping the Indian. On November 19, 2020, an open forum was held for students, alumni, and the community to ask questions and voice concerns. The final step in the process was a formal vote by the student body on whether to change the mascot. The vote to determine whether or not to keep the Indian as the JBHS mascot was conducted from November 30th- December 2nd through a google form. The results of the vote indicate that our students do not want to continue to use the “Indian” as their mascot.
Final Vote Count
YES, CHANGE THE MASCOT 63.7% (981 votes)
NO, KEEP THE MASCOT 36.3% (559 votes)
The student body will be informed of the process to choose a new mascot as soon as the details are finalized.