Situation

For 60 years, St. John’s School teams were the “Rebels,” a name long associated with the Confederacy and the nation’s dark past. Yielding to contemporary political correctness and pressure from many higher institutions of learning, the School’s board of trustees determined a name change was in order.

Challenge

Decades of alumni, students, families and faculty did not want to abandon their beloved nickname. There was merit and much passion to both sides of the debate, but in the end sentimentality yielded to practical necessity. The time had come to stop explaining what St. John’s School was not about and start to explain what it is: One of the finest preparatory schools in the nation.

Solution

Leader Creative recommended a branding strategy and developed a graphic identity and implementation program for the newly renamed St. John’s “Mavericks,” helping to overcome significant internal resistance from many students, parents and alumni reluctant to give up their long beloved “Rebels.”