Changing Your Mascot

Finding a voice within your community can be hard. Surveying people anonymously is often the easiest way to get their honest opinions, but who do you decide to survey and how do you get a hold of them. Students are already on your campus, but parental permission may be required to survey them. Faculty members are employees therefore surveying them consists of sending out a simple email. Parents can be emailed, sent a newsletter or even sat down with. It is reaching out to your community that may be the hardest part. 

The Seminoles of Florida State and other schools have actually been endorsed by their local tribes and encouraged to continue using their names imagery and culture in association with their athletic programs (Brown, 2005). In many situations colleges and universities are working with local groups and tribes to put policy and practices in place to protect themselves from litigation or wrong-doing, but still being able to use their current nicknames and mascots.  According to Beres (2005), schools would do a better job of avoiding litigation and having better policy if they had a better understanding of the Native American community and opened up communication with them.

Reaching out to local community is the only way to get their perspective and have a complete idea of how those within your community feel.