My little high school in Hurley has the eyes of the nation upon it. Well, maybe I won't go that far, but my alma mater finds itself under the microscope. The use of the"Midget" knickname/mascot could be coming to an end. A vote to change the name is going up for a vote on April 2nd. A couple of months ago, I was wearing my Hurley Midget pull-over at Woodman's (local grocery store), and my wife Dorothy was mortified. She made me stack up the groceries high and lean over. Not sure how I feel about this now. On the one hand, there's tradition, but on the other, I can see the concerns of the Little People of America. I posted about this back in September, but since the story has been picked up the Journal Sentinel here in Milwaukee, I thought I'd give you an update.
The origin story of the mascot has been lost in time. It's been the mascot for 80 to 100 years. The school district is having its 120th graduation this year.
"I couldn’t really tell you the backstory," Hurley School District Administrator Chris Patritto said. But there's one story he has heard most frequently: "Many moons ago we were playing in a state tournament and we had a lot of short Italian miners and one of the radio announcers said they looked like midgets."
The school doesn't currently have a mascot who dresses up for sporting events. Instead, Hurley has been using an "H" logo.
In the last dozen years or so, alumni and community members have complained to Patritto about the nickname, which is broadly considered offensive among people with dwarfism and their families and friends.
"I think board members have had complaints about it, too," he said. "They just felt the discussion needed to happen. They felt that at this point, maybe it’s time the voters look at it."The complete story here > Hurley has had the same Midget mascot for decades. In April, voters can decide to explore new options.
Jay and I were talking about it this morning...