New rendering of Central Minuteman emblematic of positive change at St. Paul high school

Dane Mizutani, Pioneer Press
Updated ·6 min read

Cherise Ayers made it clear that this is not an official change. As the principal at Central High School in St. Paul, she knows that word scares people. Even for something seemingly as harmless as the Central Minuteman mascot.

“That’s not what’s happening here,” Ayers said. “It’s not like the old mascot Marshall is being replaced by the new mascot Malcolm. We’re not replacing anything. This is just something that we’re now including it as a part of the story.”

That something is a new rendering of the Central Minuteman. Though the school isn’t getting rid of the longstanding Marshall — depicted as a white man carrying a musket like the minutemen in the Revolutionary War — it plans to use the modern Malcolm in certain spaces as a way to better represent the student population.

The visual is powerful. Malcolm looks nothing like Marshall. He is depicted as a Black man, first and foremost, and he’s holding a flag rather than a gun. Still, as apparent as the differences appear to be on the surface, Ayers made sure to point out that they are also historically accurate.

“This isn’t the superficiality of representation, like, ‘Oh, I want to see myself so I’m going to make this look like me,’ ” she said. “Because of that, it rings true in my soul. There were Black minutemen. They fought for the freedoms of this country through the irony of their own enslavement.”

The importance of representation cannot be overstated, especially at a place like Central, where, according to data from St. Paul Public Schools, minorities accounted for 58 percent of the student population in the 2022-23 school year. A closer look at the numbers shows that nearly 30 percent of the student population is Black.

Which makes the recent emergence of Malcolm even more impactful.

“Having a broader depiction in the likeness of the Central Minuteman honors that importance of representation,” said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, a graduate of Central. “Both in our past and for future generations.”

The idea of a new rendering came soon after Ayers took over as principal of her alma mater at the start of the 2022-23 school year. She remembers having a conversation with longtime football coach and basketball coach Scott Howell back in the fall. They talked about the possibility of making shirts for the whole school and Ayers proposed tweaking the likeness of the Central Minuteman.

“She’s putting her own stamp on the building,” Howell said. “That’s how I see it, and I think it’s a good thing.”

The widespread rollout of Malcolm came a couple of weeks ago. Every student in the building got a shirt in the days leading up to graduation, thanks to a generous donation from Valerie Castile, mother of Philando Castile, who was murdered by a police officer during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights in July 2016.

It featured Malcolm prominently displayed on the front, and below that, a theme Ayers has implemented since taking over as principal: “Cultivating a Central where everyone thrives.”

All of it is emblematic of the positive change taking place at Central under new leadership.

“I want all of our students to see themselves as a part of the whole experience at Central,” Ayers said. “I want to make kids think, ‘Yes! I can do anything here! I can be successful here!'”

The school went through a rough patch following the retirement of the longtime, popular principal Mary Mackbee, who served 26 years in that role at Central, and left a legacy that won’t soon be forgotten. Her departure at the end of the 2018-19 school year preceded the start of the pandemic. The spirit that once permeated the hallways at Central started to dissipate with students forced to stay home.

“It was important to bring that back,” Ayers said. “I want going to Central to be a point of pride.”

That pride has long existed within Ayers. She has had a lifelong connection to Central. Her mother graduated from the school. After growing up in St. Paul herself, Ayers continued the family tradition of attending and graduating from Central, then set off to further her education at Spelman College, an HBCU in Atlanta.

That’s where she fully started to grasp the importance of representation. Whether it was attending Spelman, or teaching in Atlanta after graduation, Ayers noticed it wasn’t uncommon for a school mascot to be Black in communities of color.

“It’s the norm,” she said. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, of course.'”

That isn’t always the case in Minnesota.

“I think the experience for communities of color in Minnesota are othered in the most negative ways,” Ayers said. “To see a new rendering of a Black mascot for the oldest high school in the state is very powerful. You can feel that just by looking at it, where it’s like, ‘Wow, I didn’t even know I was holding my breath.’ It’s this reaction of, ‘Yeah, that’s me. I see myself there, and not only can I see it, everyone can see it.'”

The passion with which Ayers speaks about Malcolm is a perfect example of her authenticity as a leader. She cares deeply about making Central a place where everyone thrives. Everyone around her can feel it.

“I don’t think there’s anyone else that could be doing what she’s doing right now,” said Sunny Kase, a leader of the parent advisory council at Central. “I think kids have a magical gift where they can see right through people and they can see their best and worst qualities. To be a successful principal like Cherise, it’s important to connect with young people in a way that’s authentic. You have to see the best in them, and she does.”

It’s exemplified in the way Ayers communicates her vision for the school. It’s exemplified in the way she walks the hallways and knows the name of every student she passes by. It’s exemplified in the way she regularly attends sporting events after school as a way to show her support.

“Something we haven’t had since Mary left is up-front communication,” Howell said. “It was nice to see Cherise out there at the games with her pom-poms and everything else. She’s showing her pride. That goes a long way.”

If anything is clear talking to Ayers, it’s that she doesn’t plan on going anywhere else anytime soon. This is a destination job. Her heart is at Central and always will be.

“I’m really excited about the ground that we’ve covered this year and where we can go in the future,” Ayers said. “I think the sky is the limit. I’m fully committed to disrupting the systems of oppression at Central and transforming it into a place where our outcomes are not predictable by race. I want our school to be a beacon by which everything else is measured when it comes to integrated excellence.”

Though it’s going to take a lot of hard work to get there, Ayers wholeheartedly believes it’s possible.

“We’re just going to have to be ready to fight and take it on,” she said. “Like our mascot. Like the Minuteman. Like Malcolm.”

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