On July 1, 2020, the Board of Trustees announced it had unanimously voted to discontinue the use of the Indian as SSA’s mascot and team name, effective immediately. The Board charged the administration with developing a collaborative process for the selection of a new mascot and team name that would engage alumni, students, parents and faculty, with the goal of announcing a new mascot by Dec. 31, 2020. On Aug. 3, President Bart Griffith ’93 announced the formation of the Mascot Committee, co-chaired by Bob Grandizio Jr. ’91 and Jamie (Brush) Scott ’98 and listed below. Updates from the committee on the mascot selection process will be posted on this page.

Mascot Search Parameters:

• The mascot should resonate with all generations of the Shady Side Academy community and be inclusive of the history and future of the institution.
• Shady Side Academy will continue to use the colors blue and gold as our official school colors.
• The mascot name will have a graphical representation that should easily apply to official marketing materials, promotions, uniforms and school merchandise.
• The mascot should not contain references to Native American names, imagery or tribes (e.g. - Warriors, Arrows, Chiefs, Seminoles, etc.)
• The mascot should not contain gender specific names or names that depict a specific race, religion or ethnic group (e.g. - Flying Dutchmen, Fighting Irish, Fighting Christians, etc.)
• The mascot should have applications for all Shady Side Academy athletic, extracurricular teams, and clubs and should not be specific to any one sport or activity. 

Mascot Search Committee

Scott Aiken ’79, Retired Senior School Faculty, Parent of Alumni
Kanika Capel, Trustee, Parent
Gene Deal, Director of Athletics, Parent of Alumni
Sonia Dickson ’90 
Karen DiFiore, Junior School Faculty, Parent of Alumni
Joyce Fu ’99
Sean Gray ’97
Bob Grandizio ’91 (Co-Chair), Staff, Parent
David Kassling ’02  
Jack Keating ’21, Student Council President
Kara (Salvitti) Conomikes ’87, Trustee, Parent
Raquel (Gonzalez) Kramer ’92, Country Day School Faculty, Parent
Reggie Mitchell ’12 
John Salvitti ’84, Parent of Alumni
Jamie (Brush) Scott ’98 (Co-Chair), Staff, Parent
Henry Stafford, Parent
Molly Skvorak ’20 
David Vadnais, Middle School Athletics Coordinator, Parent
Bill Wallace ’66, Board of Visitors
Sarah Woodings, Parents' Association President