Shady Side Academy no longer using Indian as mascot, team name

Shady Side Academy said they have dropped the Indian as the school’s mascot and team name.

The board of trustees voted unanimously on the decision.

“In analyzing the situation, the Board recognized that a significant portion of our community feels that it cannot embrace the Indian as the mascot and team name,” the board of trustees said in a letter.

They said a decision will be made on the school’s new mascot and team name in the fall, and they hope to announce it by the end of the year.

According to the letter, in 1936, Shady Side’s athletic director announced the team’s name as the “Indians.” They said the name was “a tribute to the physical location of Shady Side Academy’s Fox Chapel campus, which in the 1700s served as an encampment for a Seneca Indian tribe led by Chief Guyasuta.”

Click here to read the whole letter from the board of trustees.

Shady Side Academy President Bart Griffith Jr., a 1993 graduate, gave the following statement:

“Shady Side’s administration fully supports the trustees’ decision to discontinue the Indian as the Academy’s mascot, and we look forward to leading our community through the process to select a new mascot in the coming months. As a proud alum and someone who appreciates both the history and continued evolution of Shady Side, I believe we have a unique opportunity to establish a symbol that more fully unites our community and assists in building upon the already strong spirit of the school.”

Shady Side Academy Director of Athletics Gene Deal gave the following statement:

“I am confident our administration, faculty, students, and parents will embrace this challenge with respect and kindness. This is an opportunity for us to come together as a community and embrace a larger vision. I am excited for our student body to have a mascot that we can all rally behind and cheer for at our athletic games. I predict this will elevate our school spirit to a new level. Onward SSA!”

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