Bountiful High’s new mascot? The Redhawks

Bountiful High School’s new mascot, the Redhawks, was announced Friday, April 9, 2021, and presented along with this possible logo, which is still under development. | Bountiful High School

Bountiful High School’s new mascot is the Redhawks.

Principal Aaron Hogge made the announcement on YouTube Friday, culminating several months of study and community input to inform the selection of a new “culturally sensitive mascot.”

“A red-tailed hawk is the most common hawk species in North America. It can be spotted soaring above the rural areas from coast to coast. The identifying characteristics of these hawks are keen eyesight, binocular vision and powerful talons. It is one of the biggest birds of prey found in the mountains above Bountiful,” Hogge said.

The school’s new logo is near completion, he said.

The school’s mascot will remain in place for the rest of this academic year with the Class of 2021 the last to graduate as “Braves.” The school’s colors of red and gray will not change.

The process was initiated after Hogge announced on Nov. 30 that the Braves mascot would be retired. This past summer, alumni and others raised concerns that the Braves mascot was culturally insensitive and inappropriate.

A change.org petition started by an alumna said the mascot is “offensive, outdated and racist” and called for a change from the Braves, which dates back to 1951.

In November, Hogge said he arrived at the decision to retire the school’s mascot after months of study, public meetings and private meetings that included the input of representatives of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, current Bountiful High School students, faculty, staff and community members.

Hogge, in his fourth year as principal, has slowly moved away from using a Native American male as a logo, shifting to a block B and an arrow or a feather. The school painted over several images that depicted Native American figures.

At the start of the current school year, administrators also announced that no student would appear at athletic events wearing Native American costumes, which had been a longtime practice at football and basketball games.

When Hogge announced the mascot’s retirement, he said the school community would embark on a process to select “a culturally sensitive mascot that will unite all in unity, respect, honor, courage, bravery and excellence in the classroom and on the stage, court or field.”

In February, the school sought public input by surveying students and members of the public on their preferences, using the results to help guide the administration’s decision on the new mascot.

The survey asked participants to select their top choice among the Bears, Blazers/Trailblazers, Lightning/Bolts and Redhawks

Community members suggested more than 100 names with the Brave as the most recommended.

Davis School District spokesman Christopher Williams said that name was eliminated from consideration because it was too close to the existing mascot’s name.

This story will be updated.

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