No more changes for Rebel mascot


The mustachioed mascot at Hays High School looks like he’s hopping mad.

col jack hays rebel mascot
Illustration by Hays Free Press

If so, he’s got his reasons. First, “Colonel Jack” lost his belt buckle bearing the Stars and Bars. Then the carpetbaggers commandeered his pistols, replacing
them with a couple of harmless flags.

At least no one’s tried to strip him of his uniform. Might there be a pair of long johns beneath those Confederate grays?

In the past few weeks, a rebel yell has been raised to protect Colonel Jack from any further insult. Hays High School alumni and athletic supporters are coming together to save their mascot from the dustbin of history, much like the fate of actual Rebels who fought during the Civil War.

“Don’t take the rebel away!” implores one Facebook group, which boasts more than 100 members.

But those sympathizers are just whistling Dixie, according to Hays High School Principal David Pierce.

“It’s all rumor,” he said. “It’s all false. I have not tried to change any mascot, nor have I wanted to change the mascot.”

It’s not even up for discussion, Pierce added.

“There’s not been anyone that’s approached me about it,” he said. “I’m sure there’s people out there that don’t like it. Really, that could be said for a lot of mascots.”

The mascot has been around almost as long as football coach Bob Shelton, who retired after the end of last season. Shelton had coached at Hays since it opened in 1968, and at Buda High School four years before that.

“As far as I know, people will take that mascot, and different organizations will do different things with it,” Shelton said. “The ones we use for athletics, I think he still has guns in his hands.”

People have argued that Confederate imagery, including the rebel, is a painful reminder of slavery. At the collegiate level, the University of Mississippi’s mascot, Colonel Reb, was retired in 2003. Last year, Ole Miss replaced him with an anthropomorphic black bear.

About 10 high schools around Texas boast Rebel mascots.

The original Colonel Jack, though, was no rebel. Jack C. Hays, the namesake of Hays High School and Hays County, was a former Texas Ranger who lived in California during the Civil War.

During the fighting, he remained neutral.

Published Feb. 17, 2011, in the Hays Free Press.


8,476 responses to “No more changes for Rebel mascot”

  1. In 1822 the federal government fur-trading manufacturing facility system was abolished, and in the identical 12 months the rush of speculators to the lead mines in south-western Wisconsin began.

  2. With practically 10,000 CNA jobs, discovering CNA courses Milwaukee WI is preferred, as the best focus of employment opportunities are discovered within the fast area.

  3. Compared together with his Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello, who often either braked or accelerated in a nook, Schumacher usually braked later right into a corner and stabilised his car by accelerating slightly, often using both the brake and accelerator pedals at the identical time.

  4. To make sure the security of electric automobiles charging stations, fireplace safety necessities for plastic elements such as enclosures, plugs and sockets should be met in Europe with ignition and flammability (glow wire), and in the USA with the extra demanding open flame propagation exams.

  5. 24 Jan 1932 at Davenport; Partner: William Brown; (son Andrew Brown); Father: Andrew Layson, born Arkansas; Mother: Mary Cooper, born Iowa; Burial: Lincoln Cemetery, Lincoln, Wa.

  6. You’re so cool! I do not think I’ve read a single thing like this before. So wonderful to discover another person with a few unique thoughts on this subject matter. Really.. thanks for starting this up. This website is one thing that’s needed on the web, someone with a bit of originality.

  7. When you look on the view of the outside of the park behind third base, and evaluate it to a photo of the exterior behind first base, you’d think you had been looking at two different locations the place sports activities are played – one for baseball and one for basketball.

  8. At the Bonneville Salt Flats a ’34 Imperial coupe ran the flying-mile at 95.7 mph, clocked 90 mph for 500 miles, and set 72 new nationwide speed information.

  9. The county courts of the state handle probate issues and deal with the dedication of the insane and certain special topics and in some counties have a limited civil jurisdiction; and from the county courts appeals lie to the circuit courts, where matters are tried de novo.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *