HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — “Since 1956, Chamberlain has been the chiefs,” said Terry Sisco, President of the Chamberlain High School Legacy Alliance.
For years, the Title VI Native American Parent Advisory Council has been pushing the Hillsborough County School Board to change all Native American mascots in the district.
School mascot naming is determined by students.
A few months ago, the Chamberlain High Student Government Association recommended changing the chiefs' name and mascot.
Back in June, school board members approved the process to make the change.
Since then, students voted with a survey to select a new mascot.
“Chamberlain has not been chiefs for a couple of months now. They’ve been kind of like the Washington Football club; they’re now the Chamberlain High School,” said Sisco.
The Chamberlain High School Legacy Alliance is a 501c3 made up of alumni who pour into the school.
The group is very involved in the school, and they tell us they expected the district to include them more in this process.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions about that. There was a town hall meeting scheduled at Chamberlain that was canceled due to COVID concerns, from what I understand. It was rescheduled. That one was subsequently canceled, and then the district sent out a survey, and we’ve never seen that survey at all,” said Sisco.
ABC Action News reached out to the school district to ask about this, spokesperson Erin Maloney shared this statement:
“We appreciate the Legacy Alliance and their deep commitment to Chamberlain High School and look forward to a continued partnership. Naming mascots is a student-led initiative that occurs at the school level. The student government surveyed students, staff, and alumna before making the decision to shift from a mascot that can be viewed as offensive to members of the Native American culture. Students at the school are excited to begin a new tradition that better reflects their school community.”
“There’s an old phrase that people like to have things done with them, not to them, and in this case, the alumni feel like they had things done to them,” said Sisco.
The school district has not yet publicly shared the winning mascot, but it was shared with students, teachers, and alumni.
The Legacy Alliance tells ABC Action News the three choices were The Cheetahs, The Cyclones, or The Storm.
“They decided on the Chamberlain Storm,” said Sisco.
School board members are expected to approve the new mascot at the board meeting.
“Regardless of who the mascot is, great things are happening at Chamberlain High School,” said Sisco.
“From the Chamberlain Legacy Alliance’s standpoint, what we care about is maximizing the lifelong earning potential of the current student body. We’ve got to educate our students and make sure that they’re getting the very best education,” he added.
The school board meeting begins at 4 p.m.
The mascot is expected to be unveiled at Homecoming on October 28.
