Courtesy of Landmark Monuments
Landmark Monuments created an image of a proposed memorial stone depicting a Native American with a headdress that was designed by Loveland High School JROTC students. The students now plan to ask the Fort Collins City Council to allow the stone at Veterans Plaza in Fort Collins after it was denied by the Thompson School District.Loveland High School students won’t be allowed to place a memorial stone to Native American veterans with an image of a Native American wearing a headdress at the school.
The Junior ROTC class had proposed the memorial to honor Native Americans who served, choosing the image because the feathers in the headdress represent achievements, much like military medals, and they felt it was culturally relevant to those who served.
But the image was too similar to the old Loveland High School mascot, which has been deemed offensive and removed from the school.
District officials notified the students this week that the stone with the image was not approved.
They asked the students instead to submit a proposal to place a plaque — with words but no images — in honor of Native American veterans at Ray Patterson Stadium next to another military memorial created by Mountain View High School students in 2019.
“This will allow the intent of honoring the Native American veterans with the current existing memorial,” according to the message sent to the class.
Todd Piccone, the district’s chief operations officer, said officials looked at the district’s policy relating to memorials as well as the district’s equity policy and decided against the stone with the image. He said officials decided a memorial was better located at the stadium to align with the existing veterans’ memorial plaques.
But the decision also factored in the image, which looks like the high school’s former Indian mascot that the school board removed because it was deemed offensive. Loveland High School’s mascot is now the Red Wolves, and the district is in the process of removing all depictions of Indians from the school and its grounds.
“Part of the decision was board policy, and (it was also) based off of current guidance from the board to remove reference to the mascot. That is also something the district did not approve of,” Piccone said.
Harold Johnson, the teacher who is leading the JROTC class that proposed the memorial stone and a retired Army sergeant major, mentioned a bill progressing through the Colorado Legislature banning Native American mascots or the use of such symbols; schools that violate face a steep fine.
“I think they’re afraid with the (proposed) state law, it could be tied to the mascot,” said Johnson. “I can fully understand that they don’t want to be fined $25,000.”
Piccone said the bill had nothing to do with the decision, and that while the mascot discussion was a factor in the image, the main decision was based on the memorial policy, adopted in 2019. He said the district wants a memorial that fits policy in a location where it includes everyone, not just one school.
Johnson said the students were disappointed by the decision. It was important to them, he said, to have the cultural symbol on the memorial stone, to educate residents about Native American culture and the role that Native Americans have played in the U.S. military since the Revolutionary War.
The class decided not to submit a new proposal for a plaque at Ray Patterson Field, Johnson said, but instead to approach the city of Fort Collins about placing the stone, with the Native American image, at the city’s Veterans Plaza. The students will seek approval from the Fort Collins City Council.
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April 29, 2021 at 05:51AM
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Thompson School District denies Native American veterans memorial stone with headdress image - Loveland Reporter-Herald
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