RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia school officials have announced that a high school will no longer use a Confederate-related nickname.
News outlets report that Douglas S. Freeman High School in Henrico County will drop the name Rebels based on the results of a community poll and a recommendation from a committee that supported the change.
News outlets said the nickname and former mascot, a Confederate soldier, were inspired by the school's namesake, historian Douglas Southall Freeman.
He received a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Principal John Marshall said the nickname wasn't representative of the school’s goal to be “an inclusive, welcoming community" for everyone.
