Counter-petition to rename Harrison High School gains thousands of signatures

Counter-petition to rename Harrison High School gains thousands of signatures

Brought to question.

Earlier this month a group of alumni created a petition to change its name.

After we reported the story this weekend, a counter-petition to keep the name came out too.

News 18's micah upshaw talked with counter-petitioners today.

She joins us live at harrison high school with their response.

Micah?

Signatures for the petition to change the name of the school went from around 600 before we reported the story, to more than 1,000 today.

But the counter- petition that was created after our story gained more than 4,000 signatures in about 24 hours.

Today, we're learning why people want to keep things the way they are.

:17 :50 k: it's possible to be proud of your school and at the same time appreciate the fact that things could have been handled differently.

M: all three of kristi roberts kids have gone through the tippecanoe school corporation.

Her son matthew is a current raider who will be a senior this year.

Mr: i understand there are some awful things that happened and we can't change that but it was a different world then and i don't necessarily think that we can just, we can't just forget it.

M: the alumni who created the initial name change petition argue that while william henry harrison's history shouldn't be forgotten, his name does not deserve to be honored.

Alumni michele borton who graduated from the class of 1985 agrees he may not doesn't want to see the school's legacy suffer.

Mb: i was a hershey panther, then i was an east tipp trojan, then i was a harrison raider, then at purdue i was a purdue boilermaker so those are maybe mascots to some but to others it's a part of your own history, it's a part of your own family it's a part of this community.

K: i think you know you take a history class at a school like harrison and you learn that just because the guy's name is on the wall doesn't mean thatalways a good e in favor of not changing the name have expressed concerns beyond holding on to history.

They're also concerned about how much it would cost and if this could cause a ripple effect.

Mb: this whole tippecanoe county is formed and based on history that includes william henry harrison so are we going to change the streets in lafayette, west lafayette, battleground.

There are other things that attribute to the area's history.

Tippecanoe school corporation spokesperson sue scott said they are aware of both petitions.

Once the corporation receives it, they will be present it to the school board.

The alumni working to rename the high school are planning to send their petition in early august.

Reporting live in tippecanoe county, micah upshaw.

News 18.

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