diff --git a/.github/workflows/sync-template.yaml b/.github/workflows/sync-template.yaml
index a1044ee8c..f98bf5c16 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/sync-template.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/sync-template.yaml
@@ -12,24 +12,25 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     steps:
-      - name: checkout current repo
+      - name: Checkout Current Repo
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
           path: ${{ github.repository }}
 
-      - name: checkout new branch
+      - name: Checkout New Branch
         working-directory: ${{ github.repository }}
         run: |
-          git checkout -b sync-template
+          current_date = $(date '+%m/%d/%Y')
+          git checkout -b sync-template-$current_date
 
-      - name: fetch and merge template changes
+      - name: Fetch and Merge
         working-directory: ${{ github.repository }}
         run: |
           git remote add template https://github.com/acm-ucr/hackathon-website
           git fetch --all
-          git merge template/dev sync-template
+          git merge template/dev sync-template --allow-unrelated-histories
 
-      - name: create new PR
+      - name: Create New Pull Request
         working-directory: ${{ github.repository }}
         run: |
           gh pr create --title "Sync Template Changes" --body "Syncing template changes from $(date +'%m-%d-%Y')"