CONWAY, Ark. — Coaches on the Conway girl's basketball team wore shirts last week that said "Celebrate Black History," with the Wampus Cat logo and letters in red, green and yellow.
The outcry from the Conway community has been apparent, as many have been upset not with the shirts— but with Superintendent Jeff Collum's decision to tell students to remove the shirts.
"Actually, I was hurt," a Black woman and teacher at Conway Junior High Pattie Randall said. "I was hurt, and I was very disappointed."
Randall explained that it was hard to believe that a situation like this could happen.
"It was just something that kinda, I was taken aback when I first heard about it," Randall said. "I guess I can say I was angry about it. because like I said, this is just not something that should be happening in 2023."
Tuesday night at the Conway school board meeting, Collum cleared the air about what happened.
He said he initiated a directive to "pause on anything that was not our school colors and logo until we could have more discussions with staff and board."
He did this after he was contacted about the shirts Wednesday following the game Tuesday night.
Many people were wondering who was the person that contacted the superintendent about the shirts.
In the meeting, board member David Naylor said he brought the shirts to the superintendent's attention after he was asked by others if the shirts followed school policy.
"And I told them, look, there's nothing wrong with the message on the shirt, so if you're asking that there's nothing wrong with that," Naylor said. "I don't know your answer on the protocol."
But the word had already spread, so Collum decided to issue a letter about the confusion saying the situation was mishandled.
He continued in the letter that the shirts are allowed.
The board agrees this will be a learning lesson for the future.