April 21, 2006
Michael L. Hopkins
Superintendent of Schools
Rochester School Department
150 Wakefield Street, Suite 8
Rochester, NH 03867
Dear Mr. Hopkins,
I am writing to you as a follow-up to the April 11 meeting of the Rochester School Board's Special Services Committee. This was a special meeting convened to discuss Spaulding High School’s race-based team name (Red Raiders) and the accompanying logo. During that meeting—a so-called "public hearing" which I attended—it became clear to me that the Rochester School Board did not make a sincere effort to bring together parties on both sides of this issue in an open forum. Of the approximately 60 people in attendance, I was the sole speaker in favor of changing the name and logo. I also read a letter from Judy Cohen, faculty advisor to Spaulding's Human Rights Club. This change had been urged by the New Hampshire Board of Education in their August 2002 resolution.
In addition, in a city of more than 28,000 residents, approximately 1,600 of whom are students at the high school, one cannot honestly contend that this was a "cross-section of the people of Rochester," as Board member Frank Callaghan stated during the Regular School Board meeting on April 13. A true cross-section would include representatives of the Native American population of Rochester, some of whom are enrolled at Spaulding, as well as those ordinary citizens who are vehemently opposed to the use of ethnic stereotypes in public schools.
The special meeting on the 11th was held eight days before the regularly scheduled Special Services Committee meeting on April 20. At no time was I contacted by anyone from the Rochester School Board or from the superintendent’s office about this meeting being scheduled or the special location where it was to be held (Rochester Middle School cafeteria). Had I not been informed by a reporter from Foster’s Daily Democrat, I would not have even known about it.
It is also troubling when several members of the school administration, School Board, and City Council stand up and speak in favor of one position or the other when this was intended to be a chance to hear from the public. Those speaking in favor of keeping this race-based name and logo, and being paid by taxpayer dollars, included Spaulding Athletic Director David Colson, Spaulding Principal Robert Pedersen, City Councilor Rick Healey, City Councilor David Stevens, School Board member John Rossi, School Board member Frank Callaghan, and School Board Chair Nancy Warren. This so-called public hearing turned into a virtual pep rally, completely negating the voices of numerous Native American organizations who have been calling for an end to these names and images for more than thirty years. Ms. Warren, in her statement that the Rochester School District doesn’t need to be “trendsetters,” demonstrated a profound lack of leadership with respect to the education of children in a predominantly white public school. In actual fact, the trendsetters were Dartmouth College in 1974, and more recently, schools in Goffstown, Northwood, Lebanon, and Penacook. They are your leaders. Rochester has failed its students and it has failed those who have no real voice in this city: Native Americans.
If Rochester and its civic and educational leadership are sincere in their desire to present both sides of this controversial issue in a true open forum, I urge you to reconvene the Rochester School Board to address the issue of prejudice, intolerance, and miseducation before the end of this school year. I respectfully ask that you invite representatives of the New Hampshire Board of Education, authors of the 2002 resolution calling for the elimination of all Native American team names, logos, and mascots in New Hampshire public schools, in order to gain a better understanding of their perspective on the matter. I urge you to invite Judy Cohen of Spaulding, members of her Human Rights Club, and members of the Native American community who feel that these names and images are offensive. Please allow their voices to be heard. This is not a matter of school pride or school spirit or tradition. This is about basic human decency.
I look forward to your prompt attention to this very serious issue.
Sincerely yours,
Peter V. Sanfaçon
Spaulding High School Class of 1977
Cc: Dr. Lyonel B. Tracy
David B. Ruedig
Nancy Warren
Robert Pedersen
Judith Cohen
