Freeburg will keep ‘Midgets’ mascot

When Freeburg Community High School District 77 board President Dean Gauch announced the school would keep its “Midgets” mascot, the cheer that erupted from the crowd crammed into the cafeteria could have rivaled one from any game in the gym.

An estimated 500 supporters of the mascot donned Freeburg’s blue and white and gathered at the school Thursday to urge the board not to cave in to an advocacy group’s petition calling for the school to dump the moniker. Little People of America leaders delivered a petition to district Superintendent Andrew Lehman urging the district to abandon the name that they say creates an uncomfortable environment for people who have dwarfism and their families.

LPA President Gary Arnold and other representatives, who were in St. Louis last week for their annual convention, hand delivered on July 8 that petition. LPA representatives did not attend the meeting Thursday, but Arnold said earlier in the week that LPA welcomed the chance to generate discussion between his group and the mascot’s supporters.

‘Your word hurts’

Rodger Jennings Jr., of Bethalto, whose son Rodger has dwarfism, said a parent’s job is protect their child.

“I hear a lot of people talk about (the cost of changing the mascot). How much is a life worth versus changing a mascot?” Jennings asked. “Schools have been made as a public organization. They’re supposed to protect our children, they’re not supposed to offend anybody, they’re supposed to be bully-free.”

Jennings’ wife Johnnie told the crowd that “your word hurts my child.”

“I’m hurt,” Megan Sabourin, a little person from St. Louis who grew up near Freeburg said after the meeting. “I’m hurt at the fact that they don’t see (the nickname) as something negative. I’m hurt by the fact that we were in this community and we heard derogatory, disrespectful terms at the microphone.”

Jamie Jacobsmeyer, also from St. Louis, said Thursday was one of the hardest nights of his life. “To see that many people support a word that deeply offends me, it was really tough,” he said.

‘It’s tradition’

But the overwhelming majority of the crowd was jubilant at the news that the mascot Freeburg has held so dear for so long wouldn’t be going anywhere. Most supporters of the nickname told the board their intent wasn’t to hurt anyone by using “Midgets” as a mascot. The name, they said, was a source of immense pride.

“It’s tradition,” Mary McGraw, a resident who wore a t-shirt that read “Don’t Mess with the Midget.”

“We’re not here to make fun of small people,” McGraw said. “I would have never realized how important (the mascot) was to so many people until just now when you see all these people. When someone messes with something like tradition, you decide something’s worth fighting for instead of letting it go.”

Another supporter, a man who told the board he was a Freeburg High graduate, drew loud applause when he said it didn’t matter what the board decided. “Once a Midget, always a Midget,” he said.

At least one student who attended the meeting Thursday was neutral. Incoming freshman Elle Berger said she thought it was “kind of dumb” that Freeburg has come under fire for using a word that Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club in East St. Louis can get away with using when it advertises events at the venue.

“But I also see how little people feel sad, how this is really hard for them,” Berger said. Ultimately, she said, she wouldn’t have lost any sleep no matter how the board voted.

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 9:25 PM with the headline "Freeburg will keep ‘Midgets’ mascot."