Hey All,

Thank you for signing our petition to change the Loudoun County High School Mascot. So far, the petition has almost 1,000 signatures! We are thrilled with how quickly this has taken off!

Since we haven’t introduced ourselves yet, we are Deidre Dillon (LCHS Class of 2009) and A.J. Jelonek (LCHS Class of 2010). We have felt strongly about changing the Raider mascot for some time now. With the current protests against police brutality that have involved removing confederate monuments, we felt it was the perfect time to also look at retiring the Raider.

So, you may be asking, what’s next? Well, we have both signed up to speak at the Loudoun County School Board meeting this Tuesday, June 23. If you feel so moved, we welcome you to add your voice to the mix and speak to the School Board as well (Link: https://www.lcps.org/Page/223425

We will be advocating for changing the mascot, as well as calling for the current student body of LCHS to make the final decision. The students enrolled at LCHS are the current owners of the school and its spirit. They are the community that this decision affects the most. Therefore, we believe the student body needs to voice their own opinion and vote whether or not they think it should be changed.

We want to end this message with another thank you for your support. Please keep sharing, and please continue to keep finding ways to bring about equality. Racial injustice does not end by changing a mascot. There is still more work to be done.

We will send our next update following the Tuesday meeting! Bye for now!

- Deidre & A.J.