Balfour Collegiate changes name from Redmen to Bears
CBC News | Posted: December 19, 2014 11:30 AM | Last Updated: December 22, 2014
Regina high school announces its new name to students and the public
The Balfour Collegiate Redmen are no more.
On Friday afternoon, the Regina school announced it will now be known as the Bears.
After consulting with staff, alumni, students, elders and the public, Balfour chose the new name for the school's athletic teams, doing away with one many thought to be racially insensitive.
Balfour student Zach Ludwig said he's happy to see the school name change from Redmen to Bears.
"We're trying to move to a more diverse world and Redmen was kinda stuck in the past," Ludwig said. "I thought it was about time we changed it."
Grade 11 student Brittney Leitner agrees Bears is more appropriate.
"It's a regional animal and it's from all over the world and we have students from all the world," Leitner said. "I think it really represents our school great."
The process was set in motion in March, when the school began consulting with elders about the name.
In July, the school board announced the school was officially dropping the name. Back then, people hoped to have a new name by September.
The Redmen name was originally chosen to signify the the team's colours, but it also adopted an Indian head logo for a while.
Earlier this year, Bedford Road High School in Saskatoon also stopped using Redmen as its team name. The school is now known as the Redhawks.