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Sparky the Sun Devil is the official mascot of Arizona State University.[2] Originally the ASU athletic teams' mascot was an owl, then became a "Normal" (named for the Tempe Normal School), then was later changed to a bulldog. The State Press, the student newspaper, ran frequent appeals during the fall of 1946, urging the Bulldog to be replaced by the new Sun Devil. On November 8, 1946, the student body voted 819 to 196 to make the change. On November 20, as reported by the Arizona Republic, the student council made it official. The following day, the first Arizona State team played as the Sun Devils. Two years later an alumnus and Disney illustrator by the name of Bert Anthony designed Sparky, an imp with a pitch fork, some say[weasel words] in Walt Disney's image as retribution for being fired by Walt Disney.[3]
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Orange Julius beverage stands used the image of a devil with a pitchfork around an orange. The company later dropped the logo after threats of a lawsuit from the alumni association.[4]
The hand gesture "The Pitchfork", which is widely used by those associated with Arizona State, is an extension of the pitchfork that Sparky carries.
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Arizona State University |
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Hiram Bradford Farmer • Robert Lindley Long • Dayton A. Reed • Edgar L. Storment • Dr. James McNaughton • Joseph Warren Smith • Arthur John Matthews • Ralph Waldo Swetman • Grady Gammage • Harold D. Richardson • G. Homer Durham • Harry K. Newburn • John W. Schwada • J. Russell Nelson • Richard Peck • Lattie F. Coor • Michael Crow |
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