In researching prep schools, I came across the link below for St. George’s school, which is apparently meant all in good fun before St. George’s sports games against rival Middlesex School and their zebra mascot. In the video, a realistic-looking zebra cake is ‘beheaded’ and includes red cake inside and fake blood oozing out. I actually found it pretty disturbing, and some other people said the same thing in the Comments section.
Apparently, this ritual is done every November and the ‘beheading’ is done by the headmaster. This is the same headmaster, Eric Peterson, who is stepping down in 2017 apparently due to the school’s handling of a hefty sex abuse scandal.
I find it pretty disturbing overall. Not sure what other people think.
The link is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHQuzBFzstw . If it does not work, just google “middlesex zebra” or “st. george’s zebra” and click on Videos in the search results.
DH and I just watched this and agreed that our kid would probably have been very upset by this; we certainly were. I think it’s the sort of thing that would be good to know about before deciding to attend. I think it speaks to “fit”.
You are definitely not alone!! - I actually find it almost more disturbing that everyone in the video seems to think it is great fun. It’s a somewhat realistic looking zebra and he hacks the head off and blood squirts everywhere! This is not in the line of fun school rivalry - it’s horrifying…
So can I ask a related question? My DD is applying to Middlesex School. She has not interviewed yet, but we’ve talked to one coach and really like him. Are St. George’s and Middlesex similar? I would think rival schools are similar. I am very turned off by St. George’s zebra video and St. George’s mishandling of a very lengthy list of sexual abuse/misconduct situations. I would not send my DD there and am wondering if Middlesex is similar.
Yes the ceremony, and the head of school agreeing to the deed, is quite troubling. I think that most BS have long-held “rituals” for their pep rallies and likely included some sordid stuff, all meant to “rally the school.” This was a bit much for me though.
I thought this was going to be one of those things where I’d look at it and think, oh come one people, lighten up, it’s just a bit of harmless fun. Nope. That was really disturbing.
@KathyAd I can’t comment on the culture at St. George’s but as an MX alum who has been watching the school from afar for many years I can tell you I have been more than impressed with how the campus culture has developed under Kathy Giles’ (headmistress) these last 15 years. Her leadership has made an impact on many levels, and certainly on the safety/responsibility aspect for which every residential community needs to be accountable. Please try to get a hold of the digital copies of the Parent newsletters (recent one on the election) and other letters to the MX community she has written (especially those regarding sexual abuse issues). I would not hesitate for a second to send my child because I truly feel safety and concern for students and their academic, social, and physical growth are always first and foremost in the administrators’ minds.
I wasn’t really concerned that Mercersburg’s new head came from St. George’s, but it worried me a bit that she chose Mr. Peterson to speak at her installation. I’m sure there are many great things about St. George’s, but I wouldn’t want any of the more pernicious parts of that school’s culture to leak into Mercersburg’s.
I have no comment on the video (I don’t want to watch it), but I did have my concerns about St. George’s and about Mr Peterson fully alleviated by another parent in this forum who is very familiar with both St. George’s and Mercersburg.
Not that this means anything (or makes that cake any less gruesome!) but our Middlesex tour guide was full of stories of broken rules and more than a few off-color shenanigans: pranks, sneaking out in the middle of the night, tricks played on underclassmen, etc. Many of which were not all that nice and many MANY of which involved doing horrible things to St. George’s dragons! It was a real turn-off for DS, and I was annoyed because I wanted him to love the school. I kept trying to steer the conversation toward the MOST boring topics (“How many books do you have in the library?” Tell me a little bit about the Health Center.") but this kid wasn’t taking the bait ;-).