Students at Western Canada High School in southwest Calgary will be getting new uniforms this September as administrators have decided on a new name for their sports team.
Originally called the 'Redmen', controversy involving the team name, which many considered to be racist, reached a boiling point earlier this year.
The team will now be known as the 'Redhawks'.
The Calgary Board of Education said the decision comes after a year-long consultation with students, staff, parents, alumni, and First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Elders.
The CBE and the administration at Western Canada High School made the decision to retire the ‘Redmen’ team name and logo in March.
It was made in reaction to a Saskatoon high school bearing the same name making the change.
The board said the issue has been in discussion for over a decade.
Officials say there will be some considerable costs associated with making the changeover, which include replacing athletic uniforms and resurfacing the floor of the gym.
"The cost is probably going to be around $200,000," says Kim Hackman, principal of the school. "We'll need to redo our floor in the gym space; there's a large symbol on the wall."
He says there are number of other things that will need to change and the school is in the process of moving forward with those changes.
