The Coachella Valley Unified School District held a special meeting Friday night to address the recent dispute over the Coachella Valley High School Arabs and their bearded, snarling mascot with a large hooked nose who wears a traditional head covering,
Superintendent Darryl Adams said changing the "Arabs" name used since the 1920s by the school in this town east of Palm Springs is off the table, the Desert Sun newspaper reported.
"It is a name we will keep," Adams said during the board meeting.
Adams said district officials are open to changing the polarizing image represented by the costumed mascot and will make an announcement on its future next week.
In a letter to the newspaper earlier this week, Adams said the mascot "was never intended to dishonor or ridicule anyone."
"A mascot chosen to show reverence and honor for the customs of prideful Middle Eastern peoples throughout our region, now provokes negative feelings, and this must be addressed," Adams wrote. "Times change, people change, and, subsequently, even symbols and words embraced for decades may need to be considered for change as well."
Over the years, the mascot evolved from a turban-wearing horseman carrying a lance to a standing figure with a scowl and a traditional head covering.
The mascot came under fire earlier this month when the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee sent a letter to the school district complaining that the mascot, which appears in school murals and at football games, was stereotypical.
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