400-year-old NYC prep school scraps "Eurocentric" mascot and references to God in motto

After three years of debate and the release of a 407-page report, a 394-year-old elite New York City prep school is changing its playful “Dutchman” mascot and tossing “God” from its motto in an attempt to ensure the school’s image is not fundamentally “offensive.”

The $60,000-per-year K-12 school — which counts John F. Kennedy Jr. and David Duchovny as alumni — began probing its “history and symbols” in 2019 when administrators tapped a 17-person task force to update its brand to help “combat within Collegiate the institutional and other racism that pervades so much of our society.” 

But many critics – including parents and alumni – believe the school went too far.

“A lot of folks think the whole thing was just ridiculous overkill,” a parent told The New York Post. “Four hundred pages? For a mascot? A motto?”

The mascot – and the motto – are set to change, however, and the school announced last week that it will replace its prior motto, “Unless God, then in vain,” with “Wisdom, Community, Kindness” — in Latin.

Similarly, the school opted to remove the “A.D.” notation as part of its 1628 founding date on its seal, arguing that “Anno Domini,” Latin for “in the year of our Lord,” was inappropriate and could alienate non-Christians at the now-secular institution.

Lastly, the school’s mascot will also be redesigned after concerns were raised over potential feelings of exclusion rooted in the image’s excessive Eurocentrism.

Now, the jolly looking Dutchman – believed by many to be a representation of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of the New Amsterdam colony – will be replaced by a modernized character with a shrouded face.

Collegiate officials said that both the new motto language and logo design were voted on by 3,000 members of the school community and are said to present Collegiate’s legacy in a “more complete and historical context.”

“This community worked diligently to design a process that was inclusive of our community, fully aware that a change such as this would garner a range of reactions,” school leaders wrote in last week’s message to parents.

But while some families argued that the school simply fell into the trap of woke politics, others backed the change saying the school had a responsibility to change with the times.