The Region - News from Oct. 31, 1986

Students at Palm Desert High School have voted to change their mascot name from the Sun Devils after some people complained it smacked of satanism. No new mascot name has been chosen yet. If the Desert Sands Unified School District Board of Education agrees Tuesday, students could vote for another mascot later in the week. Hand votes were taken at school assemblies after it was recommended that a new mascot be chosen, student body President Ryan Schmitz said. “About 90% of the students wanted to follow the recommendation,” he said. The students had chosen the Sun Devil as mascot last spring, but some people complained to the board that it might link the school with satanic images. So the Riverside County school opened in September without a mascot. Schmitz said candidates for a new mascot would be Lancers, Diamondbacks, Aztecs, Suns, Pharaohs and Rebels.