by Clarence Fanto, Berkshire Eagle on April 9, 2026
LENOX — Is the middle and high school’s athletics mascot — Millionaires — due, or overdue, for retirement after more than 90 years?
In an effort to take the pulse of school community sentiment, Superintendent William Collins has prepared an information-gathering ballot question for distribution to students, all staff and to families of current students (one vote per family).
“I do not have a horse in this race," Collins said when asked his thoughts on the question. "What I want to do is what’s in the best interest of the 762 students in my care. My job is to reflect the community and also to lead.”
He emphasized that the survey "is meant to inform the conversation, not decide it." And he said even if there was support for a change, the community at large would be given the chance to weigh in.
Many locals, especially multigenerational residents, favor the slogan, which hearkens back to the Gilded Age years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when millionaires who developed grand estates employed immigrants in Lenox who had come from Italy, Ireland and elsewhere to build and maintain the properties.
Lenox Schools Superintendent William Collins is sending color-coded ballots to students, staff and school community families (one vote per family) to gauge sentiment on the future of the "Millionaires" athletic mascot. If there's a landslide in favor of retiring it, next steps will be announced.
But some students and families have considered the moniker boastful and inappropriate, noting the town is considerably more diverse than during the Gilded Age years. References to the name in connection with local sports teams date back as far as 1923.
Collins noted that when middle and high school teams play opponents elsewhere in the state outside the Berkshires, “I hear reports that our students get teased, they get grief.” In one instance, he added, Lenox runners were pelted with nickels for being 'Millionaires.' "
“So if a name change would better reflect who they are and make their lives easier or better, then I would support it,” he said. “On the other hand, if the students felt that the ribbing being taken was not a major impact, I would support that too. I’ll be interested in seeing what our students’ perception is.”
He anticipates “a very large student and staff response,” while parents’ responses may be more robust than in past polls on other topics.
The issue has bubbled up a number of times in recent years.
“Once a Millionaire, Always a Millionaire” was the verdict in February when a students-only ballot was circulated by then-Superintendent Timothy Lee. Fifty-one percent of the 421 students (out of 438) who voted checked the box to keep the slogan, 32 percent favored changing it and 16 percent had no opinion, putting the issue to rest, at least for a while.
Then, in April 2022 during the brief tenure of Superintendent Marc J. Gosselin, Jr., supporters thought a change to the school’s website signaled an effort to downplay or remove the slogan.
No way, Gosselin said. "Certainly there's been no discussion anywhere that I've been part of that there's been any remote hint of changing the mascot,” he said. "I love tradition so I want to conserve these points of pride and areas of distinction. The name's iconic so I don't think it makes any sense to change it."
Last week, Collins — now halfway through his six-year tenure — sent a letter to the school community acknowledging that “questions involving school traditions can prompt strong feelings.”
The LMMHS athletics mascot is displayed on a seat cushion inside a trophy case at the middle and high school. Students, staff and school community families are being polled on whether to keep or jettison the divisive mascot favored especially by long-term residents but subjecting some athletes to taunting at "away" games.
Students have brought it up recently, he pointed out, “and right now all I have is anecdotal data.”
“The mascot remains “a frequent topic of conversation,” he said, prompting the need for “an informed assessment of the school community’s perception. There’s no way to make informed decision unless you’re informed.”
While LMMHS retains the “Millionaires” mascot, at least for now, Morris Elementary School adopted “tigers” as its mascot about 10 years ago.
Asked why now is the time to again gauge the community’s views, Collins told The Eagle that “ever since I arrived, this issue seems to be just simmering on the back burner and it boils up when somebody sends me an e-mail completely unrelated, and then puts a PS at the end. Or a parent will come in for some other issue and then say, ‘While I’ve got you, when are you going to do something about this?’ ”
"A school population turns over every decade, so for a lot families it a new issue," Collins said, "even if long-term residents wonder why it would come up again.”
Collins also noted that the upcoming transition of principals at the middle and high school on July 1 affected the timing of the polling — veteran science teacher Brooke Kamienski has signed a contract to succeed Jeremiah Ames, who transitions to assistant superintendent of finance and operations as Melissa Falkowski is set to retire as of Aug. 31.
“It would be unfair for any new principal to add this to their plate," he said.
In his letter, Collins explained the controversial issue this way: "For some, the mascot represents pride, tradition, and a connection to generations of alumni. For others, the name raises questions about whether it rejects the identity and values of our schools today. Both perspectives have been expressed thoughtfully, and both deserve respectful consideration.”
He outlined a system designed to ensure a full and fair sampling of community opinion through the single-question poll:
• For distribution and integrity, one color-coded, uniquely numbered ballots (to ensure the integrity of the process) is being distributed to each student, as well as one per family and one for every staff member.
• The family ballot as to be mailed to each home Thursday. Students in grades 3-12 and staff members will cast their ballots in school. Pre-K through grade 2 student ballots will be sent home in the children’s backpacks.
• The deadline for ballots to be returned is April 17, the final day of school before spring break. Students are asked to return family ballots to their homeroom teacher or the main office. Anyone choosing not to take part is asked to return the unused ballot.
On the ballot itself, voters can check one of three boxes: Change the mascot from “Millionaire” to something else; Keep the mascot, or “I don’t have strong feelings either way.”
The votes will be counted by Town Clerk Paul Mattingly after the school vacation and results will be announced via email blasts, after the count is completed.
“It will probably come up again,” Collins conceded, “because it kind of simmers on that back burner and boils up.”