A Long Island school board narrowly voted Tuesday to change its Native American team name to one agreed to under a compromise with New York state officials, who had declared their old name of Thunderbirds a violation of a ban on such mascots.

With a 3 to 2 vote, the Connetquot district board adopted the abbreviated nickname of T-Birds over the objections of many community members and federal officials, who said that the decision to nix the full native-related name was a civil rights violation.

Despite the opposition from the Trump Administration, board Vice President April Iannitelli defended her yes vote at the meeting, saying that “shortening a name does not erase history” of the school’s longtime Thunderbird legacy. 9

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She added that Connetquot is “more fortunate” than other

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