Yakima College Drops Mascot

YAKIMA - At the request of Native American students, Yakima Valley Community College has voted to drop the "Indians" name and logo that had been used by its sports teams.

A committee will select a new nickname, mascot and logo after trustees unanimously adopted a policy Thursday forbidding the school from using any word or symbol that demeans race, ethnic heritage or culture.

The school is less than 10 miles from the Yakama Indian Reservation. Native American groups have objected to the use of Indian names and caricatures as team mascots in non-Indian schools across the state.

The college adopted the nickname in 1938. The school's logo, designed in 1956, depicted an Indian with a tomahawk and war shield.