For refusing to print the name of her school’s mascot, the editor-in-chief of a student newspaper in southeast Pennsylvania has faced “the possibility of criminal charges, as well as a lot of social-media bashing,” she writes in an article article for Education Week.
In a column titled “My High School Mascot Is Offensive,” Gillian McGoldrick says the climate of school spirit on her campus has made her tenure as editor-in-chief of Neshaminy High School student newspaper The Playwickian difficult:
My high school is known for its strong athletic program and as a football powerhouse, making it to the playoffs almost every year. With an environment focused on school sports and a population of 2,600 students, there is a foundation built on school spirit. From “gym night,” our school’s version of spirit night, to football games, an entire community is enriched by these traditions. So when we published our editorials and our stance on the mascot name, pushback came not only from the community, but the student body as well.
In September, McGoldrick was suspended from her position for a month. Tara Huber, the paper’s faculty adviser, was suspended without pay for two days by the district superintendent.
The controversy surrounding the paper’s refusal to print “Redskin” has been ongoing since October 2014, when the editorial board voted not to use the term in its pages. After they refused to publish a student’s op-ed containing the word, the principal confiscated copies of the newspaper and ordered Huber to change the passwords for its social media accounts.
After the editors printed the newspaper without the word, students ripped the paper up, threatened to set it on fire and refused to touch it:
When you hear this from a peer about something you struggled for more than 10 hours to complete, it is unbelievably discouraging. My fellow students couldn’t separate the mascot issue from the rights of the student press.
Despite the opposition she’s faced from the student body and campus administrators, McGoldrick continues to stand by her decision in the Education Week article, calling it “morally right.”
Correction: A previous version of this story said Gillian McGoldrick, the editor-in-chief of The Playwickian, faced criminal charges. In fact, she writes for Education Week that she faces “the possibility” of criminal charges.
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