Radnor students create initiative in hopes of removing 'Raider' name and logo

RADNOR, Pa. - Four Radnor High School students recently created the movement 'Radnor for Reform', with the effort to remove the 'Raider' name and Native American imagery associated with it.

"It's pretty obviously stereotypical and racist," said Audrey Margolies, a rising senior.

The ‘Raider’ name is on the school’s scoreboards, as well as the name of a road leading into Radnor. Additionally, an Native American head is on an outer wall of the school facing the football field. 

"It ends up painting a picture that's aggressive and assertive and not who they are as people, and it does a real disservice to them," said Anne Griffin, a rising senior.

She continued, "It's just not what we want to represent Radnor."

In addition to their movement, the group has created an instagram page, which now has more than four-hundred followers. They have also spent hours making yard signs that say “NOT OUR MASCOT” and “RETIRE THE RAIDER” in an effort to get their message out.

"When you see comments on instagram, 'I saw the sign in my neighborhood and I didn't know this was a thing and I'm so happy people in Radnor care about this issue right now,'" Allie Davis, a rising junior, said. 

In June of 2013, the district formally retired the costumed Raider’s mascot that attended football games, but the name and logo remained. 

"We want the Raider name gone. It is in itself very violent and very negative," Margolies said.

Some in the community, including recent Radnor High School graduate and football player Hasshim Ghumman, have stated that they do not agree with the initiative. 

"I feel like it's everything we're about here. It should stay because this town here, we're about the Radnor Raiders," he said.

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