Kira Quigley, Hills Class of 2022

“Keep the cowboy!! Understood that indian could be seen as offensive, but cowboy is not racist! We shouldn’t have to suffer just because valley does. – Kira Quigley”

Alessia Turelli, Hills Class of 2023

“Alessia Turelli. I believe changing our mascots is the wrong thing to do at this particular time. The reason for the names was not in any interest to be racist, it was simply what our schools were built off of. Now due to this tragedy, our poor parents who pay taxes, will now have to pay for all of the work that’s has to be done to fix the Cowboy name. There is going to be a severe money problem and the BOE and whoever thought this was a good idea right now should have thought about this before putting it into affect. Making this decision behind the students back, during horrible times was one of the worst things the school could do.”

Maria Perez-Martinez, Hills Class of 2021

“Maria Perez-Martinez: I don’t think they should remove a mascot that’s been part of our high school since it was even built. While it may “exclude” female representation, there is a history of cowboys being of different races. The first cowboys in north america were not white at all. Keeping the cowboy mascot does not “exclude” girls’ sports teams representing our school. We can easily have them be cowgirls or something along the lines of that. One thing we should change is our colors.”

Luke Miniatis, Hills Class of 2022

“I feel this name change is unfair as the state hasn’t even consulted with students first. Instead of giving girls sport programs more money for new equipment and better practices they gave them what is a slap in the face by saying this for them when the only reason they did this is to look progressive and with the times which is super embarrassing in my opinion. If the real reason they did this was because of the fact the name Cowboys isn’t sexist but because it’s racist then the male no sense as the job of Cowboy was to heard cattle not the stuff you see in movie of them fighting Native Americans or them being sheriffs while trailblazer’s where the people who moved out west to steal and pillage Mexican and Native lands which is much more offensive. In general the school needs to check its history books and should feel ashamed of their decisions. -Luke Miniatis”

Marissa Mendola, Hills Class of 2021

“Marissa Mendola
I do not believe that removing the cowboy mascot with solve any of the sexism issues within PHHS. the issues come from the unequal funding between boys and girls sports, and the unequal treatment and acknowledgment between boys and girls sports. The boys locker room was recently redone, but the girls was not and it is falling apart. The baseball team had their own field while the softball team had to walk to different locations for practice. The football team yearly funding is much more than the cheerleading yearly funding. Solving those issues will help with sexism in PHHS. You can not ruin cowboy country.”

Isabella Taglieri, Hills Class of 2022

“I think that the mascots should stay because it is not only important for the students but it is also very important to the family’s back f Pascack Hills. For me it is very important because my grandparents are cowboys, my mom and aunt are cowboys, I am a cowboy now, and we want to let my sister have the amazing opportunity to become a cowboy. My family and I are and always will be cowboys no matter what the mascot is. Please reconsider keeping the mascots and think about it long and hard. Isabella Taglieri”

Connor Aherne, Hills Class of 2022

“The fact that this decision was carried out right after the school year ended is the most concerning part for me. They knew students would be hurt and confused. They knew none of us were spreading hate from the symbol of a Cowboy. They knew that they were only doing this to look better for the media, in fear they would label the school as “racist” for such an innocent act. The sad part is, the student body, filled with Hills Pride, would have gladly stood up for the Pascack Valley Regional High School District if such comments were made, but they have instead turned on their student body by making such a crucial decision for their own school behind their backs. The students make the school, not the District.
– Connor Aherne”

Anonymous

“Disappointed at the removal of the PH mascot, Cowboys. A cowboy is an honorable profession. It does not denote race, creed, religion, etc. Just as a hawk is a beautiful bird, a lion is a beautiful animal, those mascots are not in question anywhere as far as I am aware. And, how about the Raiders? In my view, It becomes an issue of mascot or no mascot. Certainly, most of us do not wish to offend anyone or see a community divided because of it. But, speaking personally, I would like to see the Cowboys remain as the PH mascot.”

Kylie Babb, Hills Class of 2023

“Kylie Babb
I think that it’s great that Hills is taking measures to eliminate normalized racism and misogyny, but I’m not sure that removing the mascot is the best way to do this. I think that Hills should focus on the racist and misogynistic staff members inside the building to better benefit the students, and not just their media image.”

Megan Eichner, Hills Class of 2021

“Hello, my name is Megan Eichner and I am an incoming Senior attending Pascack Hills. My family has lived in montvale for the last 22 years, with three children passing through Pascack Hills since 2008. As you can presume, being the Cowboys is important in our lives for It has been all we’ve known for so many years. To start, I’d like to make It know that I support the removal of the Pascack Valley Indians mascot due to the said racial connotations. Although, I believe the removal of the Pascack Hills Cowboy does not meet the same standard. I find It is actually disrespectful to compare the Indians to the matter of the Cowboys due to the racial problems behind the Indians background. With their more respectable name being Native Americans, I find that this ethnic group deserves more respect rather than the “Cowboy” being pinned as just as racially wrong. Being a Cowboy is not a race, religion, or gender that we should be concerned that it is concerning the public. Rather It is a lifestyle and a choice that goes back far in history to the development of our country. Some statements that were made by staff at Pascack Hills concerned me to their true understandings of the history of the Cowboy. One quote made by Cschwa stated that the Cowboy supports inequality because It does not include Women or people of color. It just so happens this statement is false and shows lack of research by BOE members. In history there is an in depth study of cowboys that were of color and women cowboys that made a living from the land. I find that this is actually very uplifting and should be taught more at Pascack Hills so we can appreciate our culture as the Pascack Hills Cowboys. Additionally, It upset me to see as a member of girls sports at Hills that Mr. Weiland stated this was his way of showing equality in the female sports in opposition from the male sports. I find discomfort in this decision because changing the mascot at Pascack Hills does not and will not change the culture in our high school. From the boys locker room having expensive renovations with luxury speakers to receiving grand representation in the schools media, It is clearly seen that there is bias in the system. Nevertheless, we did not ask for our mascot to be changed since this does not support our cause. As a woman in fight for equality in my own high school I’d like to see real action taken like renovating our locker rooms as you did the boys or promoting our events to the public. I find these are more beneficial ways to showcase equality at Pascack Hills rather than take away our beloved mascot the Cowboy. Thank you for reading and listening to my statement.”

Matthew Bourghol, Hills Class of 2021

“The BOE is just feeling pressured by a couple of students, to change our school to conform to what they believe to be socially correct. There is nothing politically incorrect about cowboys. Our tax money shouldn’t be going to fund the school changing our mascot, and should be instead going towards creating a better environment for the whole school, not a couple of kids who are offended for no reason. I hate how these people expect other people to change, in order to make themselves feel comfortable. Nobody cares about whether or not you are comfortable. You’re not going to make it through life taking offense to everything you come across. Just move on and make yourself useful to society. Oh, and my name is Matthew Bourghol.”

Lindsay Marson, Hills Class of 2022

“The trailblazer article said that the cowboy mascot excludes people of color and women, but thats incorrect. Anyone can be a cowboy, the fact that people are thinking like that is the problem, not the mascot itself. Cowboy doesn’t have to be a gendered term, when you hear the word spokesman you could think of a man, or a women, or someone of color. It is a term with a gendered root but it doesn’t have to be perceived as gendered.
Lindsay Marson”

Anonymous

“It’s obvious that Valley’s Indians mascot was racist and needed to be changed. But you have to really stretch your logic to think that the Cowboys needed to go, too. This vote was held during the summer intentionally, to make sure none of us students had a say in it, because they knew we wouldn’t approve. Changing our mascot means changing our brand, our merch, it means changing all our scoreboard and everything in the school that says “Cowboys” or has our old colors. This will waste tens if not hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars only to please the very few people who thought that the Cowboys were “exclusive.” The only people who were excluded here were the students. The taxpayers of Woodcliff Lake and Montvale will be paying for this needless change.”

Yunsung Lee, Hills Class of 2022

“If changing the cowboy means spending excessive money redoing art and construction around hills, making new merchandise, or other rebranding, no. There’s absolutely nothing offensive about the cowboy mascot and it clearly only was taken down because the valley one was. There’s plenty of more pressing issues the school currently has that could be solved with the money that will be used to rebrand the school. In terms of keeping the mascot for “hills pride”, I really don’t care. Money is the issue. Yunsung Lee Class of 2022″