Harrison High School alumni requests to be removed from Athletic Hall of Fame in protest of school's name and mascot
Harrison High School alumni requests to be removed from Athletic Hall of Fame in protest of school's
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Systemic racism.
He says the school's name (and mascot reflect a racist past in indiana's history.
News 18s micah upshaw joins us in the studio to tell us exactly what he's doing.
Micah?
The former 1989 graduate is scott sturgeon.
He was a football player who was inducted in the athletic hall of fame while in school.
Sturgeon is starting with himself in making the change he wants to see.
In february, he requested his name be removed from the school's athletic hall of fame.
Sturgeon says while he's honored to have held that title -- he doesn't want to be associated with william henry harrison.
The former president held pro-slavery ideologies.
And he says the raider's mascot promotes the genocide of native american's in this region.
Sturgeon is also targeting the indiana high school athletic association.
He's calling on the organization to create a policy that prohibits membership for schools perpetuating systemic racism through their name or mascots.
The first fundamental they list on their website is respecting your opponent.
And i don't see how that's possible when to respect your opponent when you're walking out onto the field or the court with a jersey that has a racist imagery or name on them.
The tippecanoe school corporation board did remove sturgeon's name fr the hall of fame plaque.
I reached out to the school's spokesperson about a name change update and have not heard back.
Conversations to change the name of harrison high school started last summer.
Several alumni worked together to create a petition on change- dot-org.
School corporation leaders have not yet responded to whether a name change is something they would consider.
You can find that petition on our website wlfi.com.
Reporting in studio, micah upshaw.
News 18.
According to the indiana state department of health, tippecanoe county has