Sequoia High School name change final

The Sequoia Union High School District Board of Trustees agreed Wednesday, April 17, with students who launched a campaign seeking to abandon the tribal name, citing concerns around racial stereotyping.

The decision, for which groundwork was laid by an earlier policy amendment, disappointed alumni who had advocated for preserving the former name’s link with athletics in reverence to the school’s long history.

Acknowledging previous movement in pursuit of the name change, Ken Rolandelli, president of the Sequoia High School Alumni Association, said he was prepared for the decision — yet still let down.

“I’m of course disappointed but I wasn’t surprised,” he said. “It seemed to be the way things were going.”

Alumnus Jim Clarke also shared his frustration over the decision, suggesting the board was too easily swayed by the several hundred students and school community members who signed a petition advocating for abandoning the name.

“It is upsetting that some petition of 600 outweighed the thousands that were opposed, the thousands that were a part of making the school what it is today,” he said in an email. “A blink and a stroke of a pen wiped out 100-plus years of history, heritage and tradition.”

For her part, board President Georgia Jack acknowledged the perspective of the alumni, but balanced the board’s decision against the value of input from current district policy and students.

“Although we understand the nostalgic connection some in our community have with the now former athletic teams’ name, we believe it is critical to not only listen to our students but give them the necessary support to lead as they are the current stewards of Sequoia High School,” she said. The board unanimously voted 4-0 to support the name change, with trustee Chris Thomsen absent.

Since 2001, the school had operated with a separate mascot and athletic team name as officials at the time attempted to reach a compromise with those who advocated for the tribal reference to be abandoned and alumni who wished it would remain.

But after Sequoia High School students resurrected the issue last year and requested the raven be embraced as the universal mascot, officials again examined whether a tribal name was a suitable representation for the school.

Following a recommendation from the California School Board Association, district officials also adopted a new policy observing a preference that schools no longer use Native American tribes for sports teams.

Jack said during the most recent meeting, officials weighed both sides of the argument but ultimately sided with the more progressive views of the existing student body.

Meanwhile, Rolandelli said he holds no ill will against the current students and those with differing perspectives on the matter.

“The students deserve to be heard, I have no animosity toward the students,” he said.

Rolandelli defended the merit of preserving the former name though, and claimed it referenced Sequoyah, the Native American educator and namesake of the school who was a member of the tribe.

Rolandelli had previously met with students on the other side of the issue and said he would have enjoyed an opportunity to discuss the matter in greater detail with the larger student body.

But in absence of such a chance to persuade the existing school community, Rolandelli expressed confidence the mascot and athletic name known to him and thousands of others will remain in the adoring memories of his fellow alumni.

“I feel like Cherokees is inexorably linked to the school,” he said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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