FAIRFAX, Vt. (WCAX) – BFA Fairfax students recently weighed in on their school mascot, “The Bullets,” with the majority voting that they wanted to keep the name. While the school board won’t be taking any action, it renews a familiar conversation about what symbols should represent Vermont schools.
Vermont in 2022 approved Act 152, which prohibits schools from having mascots referring to racial groups, individuals, customs or traditions.
The move came after the Vermont Principals’ Association put out a statement in 2020 asking for changes to offensive mascots. “Any mascot, nickname, symbol, whatever that did, and if it was racist in any way, should be replaced,” said the VPA’s Jay Nichols.
After bitter community fights, several schools made the switch. Brattleboro Union High School changed from the “Colonels” to the “Bears.” Rutland High School eventually retired the “Raiders.”
But for BFA Fairfax, Nichols says that may not be the case. “As for ‘bullets,’ our statement wouldn’t really encompass bullets,” he said.
Fairfax parent Samantha Slingerland says she’s glad the school board didn’t end up changing the mascot. “We don’t want to condone violence. That’s not where people are coming from that are in support of this mascot. They really want to keep the heritage there,” she said.
BFA Fairfax officials say 126 students in grades 7 through 12 responded “very positively,” 20 students said “very negatively,” and 45 students fell somewhere in between.
Students opposing the name in the survey called the image of the bullet “kind of violent,” and associated it with a “negative object.” They went on to say that, “even though bullets may be fast and efficient, it isn’t cool for younger kids to have to say their mascot is a bullet.”
Slingerland says she agrees with the school board’s idea of adding a slogan to make intent clear. “So it’s not just assumed what they’re trying to imply by being a bullet, they’re giving them more of a suggestion on how it should be taken,” she said.
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