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Arcadia Unified School District to reconsider Apaches as mascot amid online petition drive, officials say it is on agenda. It is a revival of a 20-year-old controversy to remove Apaches name and imagery amid a nationwide movement to erase offensive emblems. Shayan Farooq, a 2013 graduate of Arcadia High School, felt the issue needed to be addressed. Farooq started a petition at Change.org. AUSD spokesperson Ryan Foran said the issue will be addressed in its list of priorities after reopening schools during the coronavirus pandemic and recent sexual assault allegations involving current and former students who were video recorded, without consent, having sex. Controversy surrounding the Apaches mascot dates back two decades when Native American activists protested the Apache Joe mascot at Arcadia school board meetings in 1999. Then Principal Martin Plourde sought the White Mountain Apache Tribe's blessing to use the imagery and tribal leaders approved, but many students at Alchesay High School (Arcadia High School's sister school on Apache reservation) found the mascot offensive and urged Plourde to change it. 2018 Arcadia High School graduate Yumei Lin is leading a Facebook group to change the emblem.

https://arcadiahistory.andornot.com/en/permalink/newspaper35782
Newspaper
Pasadena Star News
Date
July 14, 2020
Pages
p. A1, A7
More detail
Newspaper
Pasadena Star News
Date
July 14, 2020
Pages
p. A1, A7
Subjects
Arcadia High School mascot
Farooq, Shayan
Lin, Yumei
Plourde, Martin
White Mountain Apache Tribe
Collection
Newspaper Index
Less detail

Decades-long debate over Arcadia High School's use of Apache imagery resurfaces. The controversy began in 1997. In the late 1990s, Native American activists threatened to sue Arcadia High School over the use of the Apache mascot. "Apache Joe" mascot is no longer used. In 2020, a year of massive protests and change in the United States, perhaps another look at the logo and name may be in order. Arcadia schools Superintendent David Vannasdall responded, in part, with why Arcadia High School continues to use the Apache name, citing the strong partnership between Arcadia High School and the White Mountain Apache Tribe, who granted the use of their name to the school. He said, regardless of the school's mascot name, he will continue to honor the relationship he and Arcadia High School have with the White Mountain Apache Tribe and is fortunate to call them friends. He believes revisiting this issue on a regular basis is wise.

https://arcadiahistory.andornot.com/en/permalink/newspaper35764
Newspaper
Arcadia Weekly
Date
June 25, 2020
Pages
p. 1
More detail
Newspaper
Arcadia Weekly
Date
June 25, 2020
Pages
p. 1
Subjects
Activism
Arcadia High School Apaches
Burstyn, Mark
Farooq, Shayan
Mascots
Native Americans
Vannasdall, David
Wang, Sarah
White Mountain Apache Tribe
Collection
Newspaper Index
Less detail