This spring, students of DSST Byers: High School met with other members of the Byers community in order to discuss changing the school's name as to distance the school from its namesake: William Byers. Byers, the founder of the defunct Rocky Mountain News, gained notoriety for his defense of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre which saw the massacre of Native American women and children at the hands of the Colorado Cavalry.
The name change comes amongst calls across the nation for locations named after problematic figures or terms to be changed. One such example involves the Department of Interior changing the names of more than 600 places that contain a slur against Native women. Colorado convened a commission to rename Mount Evans, which is named for the territorial governor who oversaw the Sand Creek Massacre. People are also moving to return locations to their original names. One such change includes the renaming of America's tallest peak: Denali. Previously known as Mount McKinley, the mountain was renamed in 2016 to restore its original name bestowed by Native people. Beyond greater national changes, the issue of renaming is also closer to the local Denver community. Previously known as DSST: Stapleton, the school chose to change their name to DSST: Montview in 2019 as the previous namesake was the former controversial mayor of Denver and KKK leader, Benjamin Stapleton. Furthermore, the similarly named Byers library branch changed their name in 2021 to honor Native Americans and acknowledge the aforementioned actions of William Byers.
The discussion on the name change arose primarily last school year and has been continued this year through the schools name change committee. This culminated with a community wide discussion on the matter on the second of february. While there were some objectors, overall, the schools community seemed largely in favor of the change. Many indicated the name reflected a racist era of Denver that the school should not represent. While the school as a whole seemed to be supportive in the process of the name change, choosing a new name has been challenging. One student on the school's name change committee referred to the DSST network as “unwilling to ruffle any feathers.” This can be further evidenced by the genericness of alternative names proposed to the student body, including DSST: Global, DSST: Central, and DSST: City View. Members of the name change committee stressed to us that the school feared specificity in regards to an alternative name. However, certain members of the school community disagree.
In discussion with Aniwna Francis, a Native American member of the student body, the name Silas Soule was repeatedly floated. Soule, an abolitionist, and conductor of the underground railroad, was also a member of the Colorado Cavalry at the time of the Sand Creek Massacre. However, Soule protested the massacre and brought light to the actions of The Massacre in testimony to congress. Soule was soon after murdered in Denver, likely in relation to his opposition to The Massacre. Francis expressed that using the name of Soule allowed the history of the event to not be forgotten while also honoring someone who fought against the massacre. The debate around specificity also raises questions on how the name of the school is being changed in the first place. Earlier this year, a form was sent out for students to suggest names to the school. Overwhelmingly, the students singled out the name DSST: Pearl. However, just weeks ago, when the school sent out a form to vote on our new name, the name was absent. When questioned on the matter, certain members of the staff claimed Denver's Pearl St was named after a madam and brothel owner, Pearl de Vere, there is little to substantiate these claims. Other staff members claimed the name was dismissed simply because it was just that, a name. While some argue the avoidance of using an actual name decreases controversy, using an actual name is also an opportunity. The aforementioned Byers library branch chose to take the name of John Emhoolah Jr. also known as Thunderbird Man, a Kiowa activist known for his work on Native American education. In their name change, Byers library honors the group most harmed by Byers rather than simply changing the name just to do so. Even weeks after the supposed voting, there seems to be no clear answer on what exactly the name change will be or how the process of name changing will even happen.
Still, many in the Byers community feel the campus name change is important—specifically because of the somewhat rare opportunity it presents to us. In conversation with Mia Michaels, a member of the school's name change committee, she told us, “A lot of places are named after not the best people, but not every name can be changed. Ease is important for changing names. It’s the responsibility of our student body to change it because we have the opportunity to.” Indeed, this sentiment seems to be shared across the community; that it is our duty to change the school's name specifically because the opportunity was presented to us. We have the chance to improve our community, and we cannot waste it.
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