PHILADELPHIA - A student and the American Civil Liberties Union have no reason to continue suing a Chester County school district now that it has officially recognized a student club dedicated to eliminating its Native American mascot.
That's the argument in a Jan. 16 motion to dismiss by the Twin Valley School District, which was sued by Sloane Wolfe in 2023 while she was a sophomore at Twin Valley High. At issue was the district's denial of making "Retire the Raider" an official student club.
The school said it could not make it an official club because no faculty member was willing to oversee the club. But days after Wolfe's suit was filed, one stepped forward as advisor.
Given that RTR, which takes issue with a logo of a Native American with two feathers in his hair, has been an official club for more than a year, Wolfe's lawsuit should be dismissed, the district says.
"The allegations of fact... even if presumed to have once been true, are moot, as a matter of fact," the motion says.
It adds the complaint no longer states a claim upon which relief can be granted.
"Put another way, there is no live case or controversy, and this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over this case," the motion says.
Wolfe's lawsuit said students and members of the community find the mascot "deeply offensive" for appropriating the image of a Native American as a symbol for a non-indigenous school district.
It complained that prior iterations of the logo featured the mascot holding a hatchet. And it noted a previous attempt to create a "No Place for Hate" program was rejected by school officials.
Sloane's older sister Arden had led the charge against the mascot earlier this decade, and Sloane took up the cause after she graduated.
"From the start, the Wolfe sisters' attempts to retire the Raider were controversial, generating both supporters and detractors inside and outside of the school district," the lawsuit says.
The Wolfes and another student who started an online petition were retaliated against, the suit says, claiming a car followed the Wolfes home after a board meeting.
Wolfe wanted Retire the Raider to become an official student club in order to hold regular meetings at school facilities, among other privileges. Twin Valley said if there were no faculty advisor, it could not permit that.
An advisor must manage the club's email address and outside correspondence, manage money and spending and lock up school facilities after meetings.
Retire the Raider has been an approved student club since Nov. 17, 2023, though the school still uses the name. The school's football helmet features a spear.