Change Over College Rebranding Causes Protests

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The New York Times
Thursday, December 27, 2012

Change Over College Rebranding Causes Protests

By TANZINA VEGA

COLLEGE students can have visceral reactions to many things — dormitory life, cafeteria food, midterms. And in this age of instant criticism online, another item can be added to that list: protests against the efforts of universities to refresh their logos, slogans and mascots.

The latest example of a university coming under pressure over its efforts to rebrand itself is the University of California, which after 144 years unveiled a new logo for the university system.

The original seal, dating back to 1868, showed an intricate design that included an open book under the light of a bright star while a banner with the words “Let There Be Light” floated below. The new logo, created by a team at the university, featured a “C” inside a blue U-shaped figure with a top that appeared to be an open book.

The change to the logo was part of a broader rebranding effort by the university system called Onward California, meant to give the university a new visual identity, attract new students and articulate a vision for its schools, said Jason Simon, director of marketing communications at the University of California.

But to many students, that explanation mattered little. The logo arrived to little fanfare in October 2011, but after media reports about the differences between the logos began circulating this November, thousands took to the Internet where they described it as “corporate” and “cheap” and posted a petition on change.org to stop its use. The new logo, read the petition, “while attempting to be modern, loses the prestige and elegance of the current seal.”

The petition was signed by more than 50,000 people, leading the university to suspend use of the logo.

“It caught everybody’s attention,” said Jefferson Coombs, executive director at the Cal Alumni Association at University of California, Berkeley. “Just the number of people that were commenting, and commenting in long form, commenting in detail, commenting their opinions about the space. This was, maybe, the most active social media conversation about the university system that I’ve seen over the past several years.”

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