New York school ditches Orientals nickname

A New York high school is dropping the Orientals nickname from its sports teams beginning with the 2015-16 school year.

East High School (Rochester, New York) will change its name to the Eagles, becoming one of many schools over the last few years that have discontinued using racial or ethnic nicknames. The Rochester school board approved the decision on Thursday.

From the Democrat & Chronicle:

The name change has come up before at East but has faced alumni opposition at times. The school has been using an eagle logo for several years, so the change should be relatively seamless, Soler said.

Justin Noye played football at East High and is now a sophomore at Old Dominion University, where he plays safety.

“I knew it was kind of a racist term,” he said. “I began to notice that other teams didn’t call us the Orientals at games, they called us the Eagles. … At the end of the day, we don’t need negative attention over a name that’s been there a long time. It’s time for something new anyway at East High.”

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