Murrieta Valley High School is taking heat from the University of Iowa over its mascot.
According to the Southwest Riverside News Network, the university sent a letter to the high school last week saying the school's mascot was too similar to Iowa's.
The high school's logo, a red and sometimes black hawk-shaped head, was picked as a logo 20 years ago when the school opened. The nighthawk was chosen as mascot because there used to be a large population of nighthawks in the area.
Murrieta Valley Unified School District spokeswoman Karen Parris said that when the mascot was chosen, it wasn't uncommon for high schools to pick logos similar to those at universities.
A more recent trend has some universities targeting high schools about using mascots very similar to theirs. In addition to Murrieta being targeted, Temecula's Great Oak High School was contacted by the University of Nevada about its red, white and blue wolf logo.
Great Oak High School eventually agreed to phase out the mascot, and the issue did not go to court.
Murrieta officials say they have no plans to dispose of its hawk logo, and attempts to contact the letter writer in Iowa have been unsuccessful.
