The Redhawks have landed.
Saskatoon’s Bedford Road Collegiate unveiled its new team name and logo — the Redhawks — Tuesday morning to more than 400 students and staff members.
The unveiling came after months of consultation with students, alumni and community members following the retirement of the school’s former Redmen nickname.
“Numerous ideas came forward throughout the design process. It became clear from the start that our school community wanted to keep the red colour when moving forward with a new name and logo,” said principal Cody Hanke.
The Saskatoon Public Schools board of education voted 8-2 last March in favour of retiring the Redmen mascot after calls the name and logo were racist and served to stereotype First Nations people.
The new nickname refers to red-tailed hawks, a bird of prey commonly found in Saskatchewan, a Saskatoon Public Schools spokesperson wrote in a media release.
“Redhawks clearly resonated with our students and represents the values of our school — pride, tradition and respect,” said Hanke. “We hope our community will support our students as they proudly wear this new logo in the years to come.”
Bedford Road will start sporting the Redhawk name and logo in September, when the 2014-15 school year begins.
