Harrison High School alumni create petition to change school name and mascot

Harrison High School alumni create a petition to change school name and mascot

Alumni of william henry harrison high school are petitioning to change its name.

This follows a nationwide movement to remove public symbols with a history of racism.

News 18's micah upshaw talked with one alumni who's spearheading the petition.

:11 m: william henry harrison high school is proudly known as the home of the raiders.

But some alumni say they aren't so proud about the history that name holds.

R: we want this to be a discussion about who harrison was, the u.s. military that he really helped found and how it has then bleed into white supremacy throughout indiana, the midwest, our country throughout time.

M: rachel gray graduated from the harrison high school class of two- thousand.

She joins a number of alumni who worked together to start this petition.

They're asking the tippecanoe school corporation to consider changing the schools name and mascot.

R: our point is to tell them that the renaming needs to happen, we also want to the raider mascot and any names and signatures and imagery around that to be ended and for the high school to move in a new direction.

M: harrison was the 9th president of the united states.

Before his time in office, he led u.s. soldiers to force thousands of native americans off their land.

During his time as the governor of indiana, he showed major support of slavery happening in the south, even pushing to bring it to indiana as it became its own territory.

R: harrison does not deserve this honor, he does not deserve to have his face or his body or his force on anything related to related to this school.

M: while gray is calling for change she also feels for alumni who may not want to let go of their high school alma mater.

R: i love and respect people that have graduated as raiders and the love they might feel that connects them to their classmates and connects them to their past.

It is okay to not be raider anymore and still be the same exact student you were, the same exact community member you were.

M: in tippecanoe county, micah upshaw, news 18.

Organizers are seeking more signatures.

They plan to present the petition to the tippecanoe county school corporation next month.

We reached out to t-s-c and have not yet heard back.