Tuesday 1 February 2022

NYC's elite $60,000-a-year Collegiate School - that taught JFK Jr. - set up a woke task force that spent three years producing a 407-page report deciding to kill off its Dutchman mascot and 'Unless God, then in vain' motto because they could be offensive

 The elite $60,000-a-year Collegiate School in New York City, the oldest private school in the nation, spent three years debating its winking Dutchman mascot and motto - 'Unless God, then in vain' - and decided to go woke and kill off the symbols because they could be considered offensive.  

The Upper West Side school, which taught John F. Kennedy Jr. and David Duchovny, began looking into its mascot and motto in 2019, ultimately considering both potentially offensive after releasing a 407-page report in 2020. 


After reviewing the report for two years, the 394-year-old institution refashioned its mascot last week to avoid feelings of excessive Eurocentrism, swapping out the winking Dutchman with a silhouetted colonial figure figure holding a lantern, instead of a figure with a peg leg and holding a shovel.

The school's motto was also altered to 'Wisdom, Community, Kindness' in Latin, and the school also dropped A.D., meaning Year of our Lord,  from its seal. 

The change has drawn backlash from parents in the school, with one telling the New York Post: 'A lot of folks think the whole thing was just ridiculous overkill. Four hundred pages? For a mascot? A motto?' 

It's the latest incident of NYC's elite schools going woke after several schools, like The Spence School and Grace Church School, openly supported the Black Lives Matter protests last year and were accused of teaching wokeness to their students.  

Old mascot
New mascot

The Collegiate School's History and Symbols Task Force recommended the historic school get rid of it's winking Dutchman mascot due to its representation of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of New Amsterdam. It was replaced with a colonial silhouette 

The 394-year-old institution refashioned its mascot pics to be less Eurocentric because the previous version could have been considered offensive

The 394-year-old institution refashioned its mascot pics to be less Eurocentric because the previous version could have been considered offensive

The Collegiate School, the oldest private school in the nation, issued a 400 page report finding its winking Dutchman mascot and school motto to be potentially offensive

The Collegiate School, the oldest private school in the nation, issued a 400 page report finding its winking Dutchman mascot and school motto to be potentially offensive

The school also decided to change its seal and drop A.D., meaning Year of our Lord in Latin, due to its religious connotations

The school also decided to change its seal and drop A.D., meaning Year of our Lord in Latin, due to its religious connotations

The woke report was published by the Collegiate School's History and Symbols Task Force, which was composed of 17 members and led by James Solomon, an alumnus, and Rev. John Vaughn, whose son attends the school.

The other members include Michael Bos - former president of Collegiate Churches of New York, Jesse Cohen - alumni director, Christopher Dennis - school's director of equity and diversity, Chinmay Deshpande - a student, Lucas Gimbel - a student, Kathryn Hill - the middle school history teacher, Thomas Jundt -the upper school history teacher, John Kosner - president of the Alumni Association, Regina Lasko - a school board trustee and wife of David Letterman, Ricardo Melasecca - a student, Shashi Stapleton - a lower school head teacher, Wayne Titus - a school board trustee, Raymond Voelkel - director of physical education and athletics, Rochelle Yu - president of the Parents Association, and Emily Zweilbel - a lower school head teacher. 

The task force surveyed more than 1,600 students, parents faculty and alumni about its mascot, motto and seal. 

School officials said both the new motto and logo design were voted on by 3,000 members of its community. 

While the task force recommended the school keep its Dutchman name and colors, orange and blue, it suggested changing the image of the mascot because of its potential representation of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of New Amsterdam, who had a peg leg like the mascot. 

'We suggest a simple removal of the peg leg,' the task force wrote. 'Peter Stuyvesant was a vehement anti-Semite and ruled by hate and racism. Although, current students may not be personally offended by the mascot, is this the man we want to represent Collegiate? Do his values align with ours?' 

Through the task force's research, it found that overall, students, alumni and parents all viewed the previous mascot positively. 


The positive outlooked changed, however, when they were then informed of the history of Peter Stuyvesant and his ties to slavery and anti-Semitism. 

Nearly 25 percent of those surveyed said the mascot should be changed, but nearly the same amount said the mascot shouldn't be changed regardless of its tie to Stuyvesant. 

More than 20 percent said they don't even think the mascot is Stuyvesant.  

The task force also agreed to remove A.D. from its seal because of its religious connotations. 

'This community worked diligently to design a process that was inclusive of our community, fully aware that a change such as this would garner a range of reactions,' school officials wrote in a statement. 

Some believed the school was going too far with its embrace of woke priorities, with one parent telling the Post: 'I think the administration is walking a thin line trying to keep everybody happy.' 

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