Thoughts on changing the Aurora mascot
Out of 113 students at Aurora High School, 68 of them said they don’t know why the Greenman is the school’s mascot.
Based off of information from Principal Paul Milcetich, the original mascot was actually the “Greenie” until the late 1950s and early 1960s. This mascot was created in association with the Browns, or the “Brownies” and we used their same elf mascot. A dislike for the mascot was expressed by many people (rumored because “Greenies” was a reference to weed/drugs) lead to a change around the time period. The current, more serious logo was developed in 1973, making it 46 years old as of 2019.
There are many reasons for change which I would like to see happen, but changing a mascot is not a simple act. In order for this to be considered, a large amount of students and people in the community must want the change. And of course, it would be extremely expensive to accomplish this change. Since the students are most clearly affected, a survey was sent out to see their opinion on the issue.
While 50 out of 115 students said they like our mascot, 68 out of 119 students said yes or maybe, they would change the mascot.
Why shouldn’t it change? The overwhelming point made was “it’s fine how it is” or students like the Greenman, but other points were also made.
One student said, “It's become part of the school's collective culture.”
Continuing that thought, another student said, “The Greenman mascot is a symbol of our school, our sports teams, and our academics. We cannot change something that has represented the students and staff of Aurora for years.”
A different student said, “I like being called the Greenmen because it is more unusual and no other teams are called the Greenmen as if it was simple like tigers.”
So why should be change it? Mostly, students find the mascot “ugly,” “weird,” “stupid,” “random,” and “strange,” which was just the beginning of many comments.
Adding to this, one student said, “I'm tired of having to explain to my relatives that it isn't an elf, alien, or someone about to puke.”
Another student said, “It looks like the mascot for Green Giant green beans and people from other schools make fun of it.”
Looking at all these comments, it seems like there cases for both sides, but there is still a big issue that exists with the mascot. Many people view the mascot as sexist. The girls’ soccer team, basketball team, and almost all the female sports have the “Lady Greenman” as their mascot.
Slapping a female title on a men’s mascot is completely degrading. It shows a schools unwillingness to include everyone equally with something as simple as a name.
One student put it very well; she said, “We all know very well that the boys in our school district would never tolerate being called the ‘Gentleman Greenwomen’ or ‘Men Greenwomen’...yet all the girls in the school are expected to just...deal with it, and have been for many years. I honestly don't see that it would be that difficult to change it, and when it's unfair, intentionally or not, I see no reason why not.”
Of course, this doesn’t speak for all the female students in Aurora as many simply don’t care or think it really matters. Most male students could care less.
So what should the mascot be changed to? Another survey was sent out asking student opinions. Taking some of the suggested mascots from the first survey, mascots were voted on by the students.
13/96 students liked Goblins and 30/96 liked Ogres. 54/100 liked or kind of liked Raptors. 30/99 liked Guardians and 10/99 liked Warriors. 37/102 liked or kind of liked the letter “A.” 44/103 liked or kind of liked Gators. Overall, it seemed the Raptors had the most approval.
There is no complete consensus from the students when compiling the responses. The school probably still won’t be changing the mascot anytime soon after stamping the Greenman across the football field for $500,000, yet it’s still something for the school to keep in mind. If the greenhouse wants to consider themselves open minded, this may be an area where it can improve upon.
