RICHMOND, Va. โ A Virginia high school will no longer use a Confederate-related nickname, officials announced.
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 school committee that supported the change, news outlets reported Thursday.
Nearly two-thirds of the poll's 1,500 respondents voted to change it, The Richmond Times-Dispatch said.
The school's mascot was once a Confederate soldier, but it swapped out the visual mascot with a logo using the school's initials in recent years, according to news outlets.
The nickname and the mascot were inspired by Douglas Southall Freeman, the Richmond journalist, historian and author that the school was named after, news outlets said.