What will Red Jacket's new nickname be? Community is asked to pick from three choices

SHORTSVILLE, NY — Will it be the Cardinals, Rail Hawks or the Bears?

As happened in the Canandaigua school district last year, the Manchester-Shortsville Central School District is surveying the community to move on from the Indians nickname and come up with a new one.

Building on the feedback gathered from more than 700 responses to a survey earlier this year, Manchester-Shortsville district leaders, in collaboration with a district rebranding committee, have narrowed down the list of potential mascots to those three selections.

The district's schools can keep the Red Jacket name.

Community members are asked to complete the survey by the end of the district’s budget vote Tuesday, May 21.

Based on the initial responses, a committee consisting of students, staff, parents and community members, alumni, administrators and board members felt strongly that the three options captured the district, captured its tradition, and honored different aspects of the district and community by offering those three options, according to Superintendent Christopher Barnard.

“I think it will be pretty telling to see where those three options fall,” Barnard said.

Why does Red Jacket have to change its Indians nickname?

The district is required to change the nickname, as well as its logo, after the state Board of Regents last April prohibited the use of Native American names, mascots and logos.

Canandaigua, which also surveyed the community for help in determining its Gray Wolves nickname, switched from the longstanding Braves nickname and Friendship belt logo because of the state mandate.

Like Canandaigua, the Manchester and Shortsville communities are rich in tradition and rich in history, with alumni who are incredibly proud and many who have been longstanding staples of the community for generations, Barnard said.

The district itself is named for Seneca Chief Sagoyewatha, who took the name Red Jacket because of the red coats he wore during the American Revolution. The Indians nickname has been in use since the 1950s.

The district already has stopped buying uniforms and equipment with the team name "Indians."

“In general, the majority of folks I’ve talked to understand and also the majority of folks want students to be able to move forward with something that they can grab onto the way that our alumni gravitated to Indians,” Barnard said. “They want our current students to be able to gravitate toward something that they can take the same level of pride in that doesn’t put us in a position that we may be culturally insensitive.”

Next step for Red Jacket's change

Even with the current survey still open, Barnard said the number of responses has already surpassed the number of responses received initially.

After the survey closes May 21, the committee will look at those responses and make a recommendation to the Board of Education.

Its decision could come June 12.