What’s in a name?

What does it mean to be a Rebel?

The Vestavia Hills Board of Education has decided it will no longer be defined by the long-standing VHHS mascot, but much of what students and community members say what it means to them will remain the same during the rebranding process. 

“It’s not going to change how others perceive us or who we are,” said rising VHHS senior and football player Stone Brooks.

VHHS was thrown into the spotlight as part of a national discussion on Confederate symbols following the tragic shooting in South Carolina. Locally, it sparked a debate on whether or not the school should change its Rebel Man mascot. After the board’s July 15 decision to keep the Rebel name but rebrand the mascot, many are wondering what’s next.

Superintendent Sheila Phillips said her decision came after meeting with multiple community stakeholders, phone conversations and reading emails, articles and social media posts. The board unanimously approved her proposal to enter into an “aggressive” process with a professional firm to rebrand the mascot.

“With any strong and progressive company or organization that must continually refresh its image to represent the direction it is going, to ensure that it reflects the future and does not lose its competitive edge, logos change,” said Phillips. “It doesn’t change who you are, it modifies how you are branded.”

During the July 15 board meeting, several concerned students had questions about what this decision means for the upcoming school year and their involvement in selecting a new mascot. Phillips said the process of rebranding the mascot will involve stakeholders and focus groups, and definitely input from students. The process will also include studying other schools, colleges, universities and businesses that have been through the process.

“In this community, our children, our students, our youth come first,” Phillips said. “Their voice matters, and all we do in this school system should and will be focused on them and their endeavors.”

Phillips said they are still considering logistics for uniforms and other items with logos in the upcoming school year. While they will no longer endorse the purchase of anything with the Rebel mascot, she said they do not expect brand-new uniforms with the Rebel logo that have been bought to be immediately reordered. The process will occur in phases, and what exactly will happen during athletic games during the 2015-16 academic year remains to be seen.

“Some things will be immediate, some things will take time,” Phillips said. “That part of the planning has yet to be discussed.”

Vestavia resident and professor Darin White said the changing nature of the sports industry is reflected in Vestavia’s decision to rebrand. White is founder and coordinator of the sports marketing program in the Brock School of Business at Samford University.

“It’s actually very common for athletic programs to update their logos and brand marks,” said White. “The process is going to take researching and understanding fan culture, understanding what people in this community are proud of. In order to develop brand marks and logos that accurately communicate who they are, they have to ask, ‘What does the term ‘Rebel’ really mean?’”

Phillips gave her answer to this question during July’s board meeting.

“In this community, a rebel is someone who breaks from the norm, who strives for excellence, who thinks beyond himself or herself and gives back to a purpose beyond themselves,” said Phillips. “A Vestavia Hills Rebel represents a spirit of community, philanthropy and the highest standards. All of these things give us what we call ‘The Rebel Edge.’”

For Stone Brooks, being a Rebel means honoring tradition. He’s played football for Vestavia since second grade and couldn’t be prouder to step out on the field in his Rebel uniform with fellow classmates. He said while the outcome was not entirely what he wanted, he respected the board’s decision.

“While we wanted no change at all, we are still glad to be called the Rebels,” he said. “I hope to stay involved in choosing the new mascot.”

VHHS student Stanton Webb said that it will be a difficult transition.

“It’s not going to diminish the program, but it’s taking away a part of what it is,” Webb said.

Resident Stephen Craft was pleased with the board’s decision.

“I think this is a positive step forward,” he said.

Olivia Brooks, a 2015 VHHS graduate and former member of the We the People team, is in support of a mascot change.

“I want a mascot that reflects the excellence, acceptance and character that is so strong in our student body,” Olivia Brooks said. “I don’t think that any tradition is more important than people’s feelings.”

Defining the term Rebel also means examining the history of VHHS. William T. Clark became the first superintendent of the Vestavia Hills school system in 1970. At the time, the school system had an enrollment of around 2,500 students and only two existing school buildings: Vestavia Hills Elementary School and Vestavia Hills Junior High School. In building a new high school, Clark was faced with the issue of whether seniors at Berry High School could remain there through graduation. The new high school was completed and opened in 1972 on property given by the Pizitz family.

1976 VHHS graduate Dean Paugh was a member of the high school’s first state championship wrestling team and has several children in the school system. He was part of one of the first student groups that selected the Rebel name and mascot. Paugh said each class got to vote on the mascot and for them at the time, it symbolized a healthy rebellion from another school.

“It was simply an extension of who we were,” said Paugh. “It did not in our hearts, then or now, represent the shameful times of slavery or the racial issues of the day. The Rebel name and the Rebel mascot should remain the same. I am disappointed by the decision to change it, but I think we will all move on from this.”

 The issue of the actual mascot was first brought to the attention of the school system in 2000. At that time, the Board of Education voted to take no action.

Through the debate, those against keeping the Rebel mascot felt that it should be changed to represent something that did not symbolize a tragic time in the past. A group of residents, parents and alumni created a website, vestaviamascotforall.com, calling for a more inclusive mascot.

 “Getting rid of ‘Rebels’ and the dated and emotionally loaded imagery is a way for us to embrace our future rather than our past,” resident Susan Crow said. 

Those for keeping the mascot felt that it represented tradition. Many community members wore T-shirts that read “Once a Rebel, Always a Rebel,” at the community forum and called board meeting. Leading up to the meetings, 1985 VHHS graduate Roger Harris sold “Support our Rebels” yard signs and another resident sold bows to attach to mailboxes.

Former Rebel Man Calvin Wright, who attended VHHS from 2009 to 2012, feels there are bigger issues at hand.

“This mascot shouldn’t really be an issue at all,” Wright said. “This city and this school system stand for so much more than that.”

Phillips stated while “this debate has brought out the best in most and the worst in some,” she hopes the community will unite together as the rebranding process moves forward.

“My hope and belief is that the goodness within us will prevail as we work to heal from the divisiveness we have witnessed,” said Phillips. “We will regain our unity. If someone wants to make an example of this school system and community, let it be that.”