Sexton High School gets third mascot in less than a month

LANSING — J.W. Sexton High School has its third mascot in less than a month after school board members reconsidered an earlier vote and sided with the symbol most popular with students.

The Board of Education voted 6-1 to make J-Dubbs, a play on J.W. Sexton, the new school mascot Thursday night after first choosing Scorpions as the school’s new moniker earlier this month in an effort to move away from a longtime mascot deemed offensive to Native Americans.

Board Vice President Rachel Willis cast the only vote against approving J-Dubbs. Trustees Amy Hodgin and Guillermo Lopez did not attend Thursday’s meeting.

Board members first voted to make Scorpions the new Sexton mascot at a Nov. 10 meeting, rather than J-Dubbs, which Principal Dan Boggan said was a clear student favorite and leading vote-getter. According to results posted on Sexton's website, J-Dubbs received 29.7% of the vote, followed by Scorpions at 23.5%, Cardinals at 18.9% and Big Dawgs with 16.4%.

That earlier vote was part of an effort to replace Big Reds as Sexton’s mascot. Members of the Native American and Sexton communities for years have called for replacing the Big Reds mascot, considering it an offensive caricature of Native Americans.

The board’s decision to pick Scorpions over J-Dubbs led to criticism from several community members at a contentious Nov. 17 meeting.

“I don’t have any qualms about going with whatever the public wants,” said Trustee Farhan Bhatti.

Board President Gabrielle Lawrence had previously defended the initial choice of Scorpions as more brandable and marketable. Had they picked Scorpions, they would have immediately had an image to put on football helmets or wrestling mats.

Lawrence changed her vote and supported the selection of J-Dubbs, but explained that it was a difficult vote and she did not express heavy confidence in her decision.

"I don't want generations of kids to have a mascot that further stigmatizes them," said Lawrence, who is a Sexton graduate. "Whatever happens tonight, I'm asking for everyone's grace and acceptance and forgiveness."

Criticism from some community members came earlier this month after trustees unanimously selected Scorpions over J-Dubbs.

“I ask you to all second-guess what you’ve already done and make it right. There’s no problem in doing that,” Michael Lynn Jr., a Sexton graduate and Lansing activist, told the board on Nov. 17. “There’s no problem in saying, ‘You know what? We might have made a mistake here.’ There’s no problem in stating that and moving forward correctly.”

Lynn was the first to thank the board Thursday night and told them he was proud once they voted to select J-Dubbs as the school's mascot.

Students and graduates have expressed the importance of J-Dubbs to them. For decades, that is how they identified and it is why they hoped to see it become their official mascot.

"J-Dubbs is so much bigger now than I ever realized," said Trustee Missy Lilje.

At the Nov. 17 meeting, Lawrence argued with Lynn Jr. and Joy Gleason, an entrepreneur and Greater Lansing Area Destination Tours owner, before having them both removed from the meeting.

Lawrence has said Lynn Jr. and Gleason were removed because they would not follow board policies that set time limits for public comment.

Gleason questioned the purpose of weeks spent gathering student, alumni and community input on the selection of a new mascot just for board members to ignore the most popular selection.

“You could have been forthright in what you were going to do,” she said. “Instead, there was a smoke and mirrors game that lasted for weeks that pulled at the heartstrings of the children and the alumni and the concerned citizens of the Sexton community.”

Willis previously said that regardless of the board's decision the high school will continue to be known as “J-Dubb Sexton.”

She pushed back against the inference that the board ignored students and picked the mascot they preferred.

“Nobody on this board came up with the name Scorpions, the name Scorpions was presented to this board,” Willis said. “It may not have been the top choice, but it absolutely came from the voice of the students and was presented to this board.”

Willis said she appreciated the community for voicing their concerns and opinions and hoped that the final vote would not be controversial.

"I don't want this to be the hill or what divides (us)," Willis said on Thursday.

The school district announced on July 7 plans to retire Big Reds and begin searching for a new mascot.

An $87,500 grant from the Native American Heritage Fund is supporting the mascot change and future rebranding. The Native American Heritage Fund helps fund projects aimed at eliminating insensitive school mascots, while honoring Native American culture and history.

The rebranding will cost about $250,000, according to previous estimates Boggan provided. District officials have committed to covering any leftover costs not covered by the grant.

Officials additionally said they planned to apply for a second Native American Heritage Fund grant in 2023.

Focus now will shift to the design and selection of a new Sexton High School J-Dubbs logo. Officials hope to have a new logo selected in February or March, according to John McGraw, the district's director of communication.

What that process will entail is not entirely clear, but McGraw confirmed it will begin internally with students, alumni and an alumni artist. There will also be opportunities for community input.

District officials hoped to have both the mascot and logo fully introduced by the start of the 2023-24 school year.

Sexton had been known as the Big Reds since the school first opened in 1943 in what was then Central High School. The logo has evolved since then, changing from a Native American wearing a headdress to a red block “S” with a 2 in the top right corner in 2014.

The board's initial decision to opt for Scorpions over the favored J-Dubbs was a "slap in the face," said Jarelle Nixon, a Sexton graduate who also serves as a public address announcer for Sexton athletics.

"Do right ... for these current kids and future," he said. "We're proud. Be proud with us. Respect us. See us."

Contact Mark Johnson at majohnson2@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByMarkJohnson.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing Sexton High School gets third mascot, J-Dubbs, in less than a month