Denver Christian School in Lakewood is about to change mascots. As is often the case when that happens, some people associated with the school are happy, and others are definitely not.
They've been "The Crusaders" for 65 years but school leaders have decided it's not the kind of history they want to be associated with.
“It goes back to a part of the history to where things happened that were not good. And we don’t feel good about putting our name with some of the evils that were going on at that time,” board member and alumnus Calvin VanHeukelem said.
He and others supporting the mascot change say this is an effort to, as the bible says, "love thy neighbor as thyself." But some other alumni don't see it that way.
“Political correctness and also a misunderstanding of the world we live in and what is really going on,” class of 1962 alumnus Joel Ploegstra said.
He along with a Facebook group of 300 people don't think "The Crusaders" should be viewed in a negative light.
“Christian warrior. A warrior for god. So proud of his mission that he wears it on his chest and his sleeve,” Ploegstra said, describing his view of a Crusader.
It's a fierce debate over tradition and interpretation of what a Crusader means to each member of the Denver Christian School community. Those who support the change say this is not a move to be politically correct.
"It has everything to do with love and empathy for our neighbors," the school’s CEO Todd Lanting said. "During the crusades there were a lot of unloving things that happened. So there is the inconsistency with who we are in educating children."
Ploegstra says that's history. And this is tradition. And if the school drops the mascot, they should drop the name too.
“If you're going to remove the “Crusader” from Denver Christian, and you are going to remove the history and tradition, take it all away,” Ploegstra said.
Several schools with the same mascot have gone through the very same debate in recent years. Last fall, Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania decided to drop its Crusader mascot.
