Walpole School Committee To Discuss Possible 'Rebel' Name Switch

WALPOLE, MA — Walpole is revisiting the school district's athletic teams' name "Rebels." As communities across the country have discussions on race and racism in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody, a two-year-old petition in Walpole resurfaced.

The Walpole School Committee will host a virtual forum on June 16 for the School Committee, Administration and residents to speak at.

The district issued a statement to the community on Tuesday notifying residents about the forum and highlighting previous change in the district.

"In 1994, the Walpole School Committee voted to ban the Confederate Flag as a symbol for its athletic teams because of that symbol’s divisiveness and connection to certain hate groups. At that time, the Confederate Flag, and not the term “Rebels,” was the catalyst for the change," the statement reads.

There are two petitions regarding the name on Change.org. One petition is in favor of changing the name and was created two years ago. A newer petition has surfaced defending the name and hoping to keep it — the petition was created a week ago.

The petition in favor of changing the team name cites the ties the term "Rebels" have to opposing integration during the Civil Rights movement and anti-abolitionists in the 1860s. "Walpole's Rebel Mascot is forever connected to the Civil Rights Era in a negative way," the petition reads. The photo attached to the petition shows a man saluting and wearing a confederate flag shirt. The petition organizer, Micheal Amaral, wrote in the description that the photo was of Former Walpole Coach John Lee in 1969.

Over 8,000 people have signed the petition to change the athletic teams' name.

The petition to keep the "Rebels" name was made a week ago and has over 3,000 signatures. A high school student, the creator of the petition, wrote just one sentence in the description, "Don't let rebel pride be destroyed."

The forum will be open to community comment, but those who want to speak should complete an online form and indicate a preference of communication. The form should be completed by noon on Monday for anyone who wants to speak live at the meeting.

The district has a list of requirements for speaking at the meeting:

• Participants that want to speak must complete and submit the entire form
• Participants name on the form must be the same (match) as the name on the Zoom login for
identification purposes
• All statements must be 3 minutes or less
• Each participant will be emailed a specific time/window to login and will be put in the “waiting room” before speaking. Once his/her name is announced, the participant will be invited into the live Zoom session. The participant must turn on his/her camera. S/he will be unmuted to speak.

The entire community forum will be available through Walpole Media TV. The School Committee plans to hold a vote on the matter during its meeting on June 18.