Cedar High School is no longer home to The Redmen.
Members of the Cedar City high school’s transition team announced Friday that the school’s new mascot will be The Reds.
The change comes after years of allegations the old mascot was a stereotype, culturally appropriated and racist. An advisory committee looking into the issue voted 17-7 in favor of a new mascot in January, and gave their recommendation to the Iron County School Board. The school board voted 3-2 in favor of retiring the mascot in February.
Since then, a transition team — made up of Cedar High School students, faculty, staff and alumni — has been meeting to select a new mascot.
Before landing on Reds, the team brought nine possible new mascots to high school and eighth grade students on March 26, and they chose Reds over the other options — which included Titans, Aggies, Iron Wolves, Iron Miners, Tribe, Ranchers, Rockies and Royals.
Royals was the second favorite option, followed by Titans, according to a news release.
The transition team ultimately chose Reds. Now the school will begin the process of rebranding and creating a new mascot to accompany the name. Notably, Cedar High School’s girls sports teams have been known as The Reds for years.
The release states the Cedar High will retain the school colors and other elements that reflect the school’s traditions and heritage.
“The transition team wishes the community to know that this was not an easy process,” it said in the release. “However, there is much good coming from this experience. The Cedar High community is well on its way to finding its own voice in this process, and the students feel empowered with opportunity to design a new mascot.”
It added that the team recognizes that the true meaning of a symbol or brand is not the design itself, but the meaning and values behind it.
“For Cedar High, those values will always be strength, courage, honor, excellence and unit,” the release states.
