HANOVER — After more than a year’s worth of research, discussion and outreach, Hanover High School will announce its new mascot on Wednesday.
Last month, staff and students voted among five finalists — Bears, Hawks, Huskies, Maroon Crush and Trailblazers — and the new mascot and logo will be unveiled on Wednesday at a meeting of the Hanover High School Council. The change will take effect immediately.
Hanover students and faculty started looking into the mascot during the renewed protests against racial injustice that took hold in late spring of 2020.
While the Marauder, which was first adopted in Hanover in 1951, may not contain Native American imagery, as other mascots that have been removed did, it has historically been associated with sexual violence, destruction of communities, and the slave trade and colonialism.
“It was a really big discussion last year in council,” said sophomore Joshua Stearns, who co-chaired the committee tasked with selecting and implementing the new mascot. “We felt it was time to get rid of this negative symbol that was making people feel uncomfortable in the school. Even though some students and alumni felt an attachment to the Marauder, we thought it’s better for everybody to have a mascot they can be proud of.”
The council, which includes some adult members from the staff and community, has more authority than student councils at most other schools.
It has the power to decide any matters not controlled by the School Board, administration and state law.
Senior Zane Schiffman, the council’s assistant moderator, said 35 people joined an ad hoc committee, also open to students not on the council, formed last December to research the mechanics of replacing the mascot. One virtual meeting had 119 attendees — nearly 20% of the student body.
Schiffman was in favor of keeping the Marauder initially but came out against it after the research and testimony.
“So many people shared their opinions,” Schif fman said. “There were a couple people who shared some testimony that swayed a good deal of the audience.”
The ad hoc committee presented its findings to the council on March 10, and the following week, the overwhelming majority of the council voted to remove the Marauder.
The vote was 38-2, with two abstentions. The Marauder was gone, but the council’s work was just getting started.
The council cast a wide net in seeking submissions for a new mascot, forming a subcommittee to consider the values it wanted the new mascot to embody.
The panel sought input not just from school clubs, but also Upper Valley organizations including Dartmouth College’s Office of Pluralism and Leadership, as well as Black Lives Matter chapters in New Hampshire.
“What was remarkable for me was we had large groups where a lot of people could participate,” said council executive Linda Addante, a staff member who works with the council’s executive committee and also serves as a liaison to the school administration. “You could listen to what others were saying and exercise empathy.”
In May, the subcommittee created a survey asking students, faculty, alumni, parents and community members to list the values they considered most important in selecting the new mascot and whether they would prefer an animal, a letter, a color and/or a symbol in nature.
Of the survey’s 372 responses, more than half were from current students. Respondents listed community, inclusivity, courage and perseverance as their top values, and a majority preferred an animal mascot.
Meanwhile, a separate subcommittee held weekly virtual meetings to determine how the competition for the new mascot and logo would be run. The subcommittee collected submissions in late May and early June, with community members and HHS staff who entered submissions required to explain why their entry should be selected.
Once the submissions were received, current Hanover High students and eighth graders at Richmond Middle School voted for their top five choices, and the finalists were announced to the community in June.
The design competition took place during the summer, and 33 total designs were submitted for the five finalists.
The council approved a referendum to send the competition to a vote in October, and students and staff members chose the name and logo that will be revealed on Wednesday in ranked-choice voting.
“We’re going to send (the winning logo) off to a professional designer, and they’re going to remaster it so it can fit on our gear and on our turf,” senior Pierce Seigne, the council moderator, said.
The Dresden School Board estimated that changing the mascot would cost around $150,000, but if the school phases the Marauder out slowly, there could be no extra cost to taxpayers beyond the regular periodic uniform changes and updates to the athletic facilities over the next 10 years.
Removing the Marauder from Hanover High’s turf field would cost between $16,000 and $27,000, and removing it from the gym floor would cost around $2,600 if done as part of regularly scheduled maintenance.
Even after the mascot is changed, the council hopes the conversations it sparked are far from over.
Unlike the changes Washington’s NFL team and Cleveland’s MLB team have made to their names, Hanover is looking squarely to the future rather than attempting to reconcile with the past.
Students, staff and community members who own Marauder apparel are still allowed to wear it on school grounds, but sports teams and school organizations have not been using it on any new gear since the Marauder was officially removed in March.
“We want to look forward and create a mascot that will hopefully last for 70-plus years (as the Marauder did),” Stearns said. “We want to make a positive impact, and this is one step in the right direction. And by doing this, this will make people feel safe and comfortable and welcomed.”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at 603-727-3302 or brosenberg@vnews.com.