Statesmen mascot misrepresents WGHS

Webster Groves High School began with just one course, then turned into a high school. The school then became the Webster Groves Statesmen and is still known as the Statesmen today.

Webster Groves High School is a unique one. When people visit the school, one of the most asked questions is, “What are the Statesmen?” While quite a few do not know what a Statesmen is, one word jumps out, “men.” It is the word that everybody knows, that everybody is familiar with. The problem is, it does not accurately represent the school.

Webster is a coed school, so the Statesmen seems illogical. According to the U.S. News and World Report, “49% of students are female, and 51% of students are male.” There is not a clear majority of male to female students. The Statesmen only represent half of the student body, and completely leave out the other half.

The biggest time the mascot comes into play is during sports games. Both men’s and women’s sports at WGHS define the school. Both the men’s and women’s programs have had success in the past years. These include both basketball teams making it to the State Final Four, women’s swim winning second in Conference and women’s soccer winning District championships during the 2021-22 school year. Neither the men’s nor women’s sports programs dominate over the other.

Both of these programs have great success, and it does not make sense why the men’s program is the only one represented in the mascot.

Students have shared the ideas of other school mascots that are not explicitly female or male. One of the highly popular suggestions was the Webster Woodchucks. One of the favorite phrases of Webster athletes when playing rival school Kirkwood is “chop wood.” Therefore, being the Webster Woodchucks would make sense.

Webster Woodchucks is only one of the suggestions of what the mascot could be changed to. Although, it does seem the most practical of all the options of what the mascot could be. The Statesmen only represents half the school, and considering a new mascot that is inclusive towards the entire student body could create great change.