‘Bittersweet’: Indian River students react to mascot change

PHILADELPHIA, N.Y. (WWTI) — The “Warriors” no more.

On Friday, March 1, the Indian River Central School District revealed its new mascot: the Wolves. This was following a formal vote on February 29 which invited students, employees, community members and alumni to choose between the “Wolves” or the “Rapids.”

Nearly 3,000 people cast their ballot and the “Wolves” won by just over one hundred votes.

“It feels pretty cool,” Indian River High School Student Athlete Bruce Shawcross expressed. “I never expected to ever be anything else other than a warrior, but it should be a really cool change.”

Shawcross is a junior at Indian River, and along with his peers, will be the first class to wear the “Wolves” uniform. Which for many, will be a bittersweet change.

“It’s a little saddening, but at the same time, I kind of get excited about it because it’s a whole new path,” Student Athlete Allison Lamora said. “We get to start over and be the first Wolves team. I get to be the first one wearing that jersey.”

Indian River’s switch to the “Wolves” was following New York State’s ban on native american mascots and logos in schools.

This legislation was passed by the State Board of Regents in April 2023. The ban had been proposed in New York following advocacy from the National Congress of American Indians and local Native American tribes.

The National Congress of American Indians previously named 51 school districts in New York that used native names, mascots or logos. This included the Indian River Central School District.

Indian River has since worked with the community through surveys, meetings and discussions. The choice was narrowed down to the two options, which ultimately resulted in the “Wolves.”

“We’ve always kind of said we’re a Warrior family,” Indian River High School Principal Morgan Pratt Neaves said. “So I like the idea of us being part of a pack or part of a den, and our students are even thinking of some cool cheers to do with howling and the and the like, the wolf paws.”

Students have been involved through every step of the process. Many junior-year students sat on the Indian River Mascot committee.

“We gave our opinion on how we felt about like what the name should be, what we should represent, like how fierce or not fierce,” Student Committee Member Abigal Frimpong explained “We worked to eliminate options that weren’t that good and how to include the community members who also wanted to see in the mascot.”

According to Kelly Milkowich, a high school special education teacher and member of the Mascot Committee, the district wanted the students to help make the ultimate decision.

“The mascot really represents our students and our student-athletes. So it’s important to have them be the voice of the future,” she said. “We know that. We recognize that ‘Warriors’ is no longer an option. So we really want our students to have buy-in and be able to move forward.”

The new mascot will now have to be approved by the District’s Board of Education. Then the design phase will begin.

Regardless of the change, students believe school spirit will not be impacted.

“The mascot name doesn’t really matter as much as the people on the team and the community or surrounding the team,” Junior Class President Cesar Rodriguez shared. “It’s just a name. At the end of the day, it’s just the people and who we play for and what we play for. So I think we’ll be fine moving forward.”

Indian River must completely phase out the “Warrior” mascot and logo by the end of the 2024-2025 school year.

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