By NOAH TABORDA
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Seaman schools north of Topeka will keep their name but disavow their racist namesake.
Following months of contentious debate — and an election where two school board candidates defeated incumbents with campaigns built around preserving the name of a former Ku Klux Klan leader — the school board voted Monday to denounce all associations with Fred A. Seaman. Students who have advocated for a new name weren’t satisfied with the decision and promised to keep fighting.
Last year, student journalists at Seaman High School reported Seaman, who founded the district’s high school and was its principal from 1920 to 1931, was also the “exalted cyclops” of the local Klan chapter. The revelation sparked an outcry from many in the student body and community to change the school name.
After workshops, protests and community discussions, the board proposed and passed an alternative to what became a divisive issue in local school board elections. The measure condemns Seaman’s “revolting” and “vile” history and mandates removal of all references to the Klan leader from the district permanently.
The name, however, will remain.
“The action taken by this board tonight is an incremental step toward removing racism in our district,” said board president Keith Griffin. “By separating from Fred A. Seaman, this board is supporting that our community is larger than one person and does not support or uphold the actions of Fred A. Seaman.”
The seven-person board moved unanimously to approve the measure. The decision comes just days after Griffin and Cherie Sage lost their seats in the general election to Chris Travis and Donna McGinty, who supported keeping the Seaman name.
The measure also encouraged the high school’s museum class to create an exhibit focusing on Seaman’s “repulsive involvement” with the Ku Klux Klan. The suggestion was included to ensure knowledge of Seaman’s actions does not fade into history.
Before the vote, more than 40 students, parents and concerned community members gathered in front of the Seaman Education Center, where the vote took place. The rallygoers carried signs calling for the name change.
Those on hand said the board should be responsive to the students and reject a name symbolic of hate.
“If we don’t change the name, it sends the message to our community and communities around us that we condone that hate and that we don’t stand for better,” said Olivia Oliva, a senior at Seaman High School.
The Unified School District 345 board formed a nine-person namesake committee in March. An October report from the committee provided information on Seaman and his history but did not make a recommendation.
Kayla McClenny, a senior at the high school, came out in solidarity with her classmates of color. She said students should not be forced to represent someone who caused so much pain for people of color in the community.
“People of color are still affected, even today,” McClenny said. “It’s kind of just showing they don’t really care about all the Klan did.”
A statement on the Rename Seaman Schools Facebook page after the vote expressed disappointment in the board’s actions. The statement noted the fight to change the name would not end.
“In no way is this resolution indicative of a caring and responsive culture,” the statement reads. “Those of us impacted by the racism and hatred of Seaman and the KKK will not be deterred.”