story by Michael Tilley
mtilley@thecitywire.com
Fort Smith School Board President Dr. Deanie Mehl is confident the board will on July 27 officially vote to do away with the “Johnny Reb” themed mascot at Southside High School. And a former Southside graduate who began an online petition to stop the mascot change has had a change of heart.
A committee of the Board made news Tuesday (June 23) when it voted 6-0 to recommend a full Board vote“to discontinue the use of ‘Dixie as the Southside High School fight song in the 2015-2016 school year and to change the Southside mascot from the Rebel in the 2016-2017 school year.”
The change was fueled in large part by the national discussion about racial imagery following the tragedy in Charleston, S.C., in which nine members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church were shot and killed by Dylan Roof.
Mehl told The City Wire that the change of mascot applies to the Confederettes, the name of the girls volleyball team, and the Dixie Belles, the name for the drill team. Having two daughters who were Dixie Belles, Mehl says she understands the emotional attachment to the names and the mascot. And as “a retired mom committed to education” whose children enjoyed their Southside experience, she struggled with the change. She recognizes the tradition and heritage of the mascot but said such traditions and heritage don’t translate to a bigger world.
“Unfortunately, when we get outside the River Valley, Dixie and Johnny Reb have a very different connotation ... and that’s not what Fort Smith is,” Mehl said. “I don’t think Fort Smith is a community that endorses prejudice.”
What she doesn’t understand are people who say the Board made a “knee-jerk reaction” to the South Carolina tragedy in voting to change the mascot. She said she and other Board members have over the years had hundreds of discussions with parents and others about the mascot.
“When people say that the board did not talk to constituents or did not talk to students, that’s simply not true,” Mehl said Wednesday. “This is something the board has considered for quite a few years. I think the incident in South Carolina and other movement around the South (pushed the vote)… but it was time for the Board to do something about it.”
To that point, Mehl said the July 27 board agenda will include an “extended period of citizen participation” before the Board vote on the change.
Mehl said she knew opinions would be strong on the issue, but admitted surprise at how negative were some of the responses received. She said her home voicemail has a few “brutal messages” criticizing the vote.
“But that goes with being on a school board,” she said.
The school board leader also said Southside is more than just a mascot.
“We’re changing a mascot, we’re not changing a school,” she said.
Mehl does regret not talking to Southside Principal Wayne Haver prior to the committee vote. Haver has been principal of the school since 1982. He told 40/29 news following the vote that he was “disappointed the school board didn't even let me know this was a possibility.”
Mehl said Haver is a “phenomenal individual and the heart and soul” of Southside, and she “deeply regretted” not talking to him prior to the vote.
Another person with a regret is Zack Gramlich. Shortly after news broke of the committee, Gramlich created a petition at change.org to save the Rebel mascot.
“The only reason I believe anyone can see changing this is because of an emotional fueled decision. Not to mention the amount of money required to change everything to a different mascot. It's not only a waste of money, but it irritates people over the entire city,” noted the statement on the petition’s page.
But on Wednesday, Gramlich contacted The City Wire to recant his original position. He has deleted the petition page.
“Originally, I was irritated. Irritated enough to go through the process of creating a petition to change this. Since then, I have had time to think. After reading multiple articles online and after reflection, I believe that chang(ing) the mascot and song (is) the right thing to do. My current views are to change to mascot to the Marshals. Personally, it would reflect well the history of Fort Smith and it's not offensive to anyone,” Gramlich said in his note to The City Wire.
Continuing, he wrote: “I myself made a knee jerk reaction and looking back, it wasn't the right thing to do. The school board was voted into the positions for a reason. I once had a dream to go back and be a teacher at Southside, or maybe even a principal, to be a Rebel once more. But I could handle being a Marshal or whatever the school board decides is a good replacement for the mascot. As many have said before, it's not the name that matters, it's what was done there.”