A new logo for the University of California has really caused a stir
Inside Higher Ed reports on a bit of a battle at the University of California about a change of logo. The move from something very traditional to a more contemporary design has resulted in a mass campaign against the change:
One student posted a comment at The Daily Californian, the student newspaper at the University of California at Berkeley, comparing the new logo for the University of California System to the loading icon on YouTube. Another posted: “That was what I was thinking! Then someone had to ruin it for me with the toilet flushing comments, which I now cannot unsee….”
Either way, the commenters (and thousands of others) are giving a failing grade to the new logo, and calling for the university to abandon it. The university has until now used its original seal, dating to 1868, featuring an open book and the words “let there be light.” The new seal is theoretically supposed to show a C inside a U.
More than 30,000 people have signed a petition against the new logo. “The newly designed monogram of the University of California, while attempting to be modern, loses the prestige and elegance of the current seal,” the petition says. Comments posted on the petition website call the new logo “corporate,” “cheap” and “the logo of something found in the toddler section of Toys R’ Us.” Many question why the university even needed a new logo, saying that the original seal reflects the university’s values.
And there is a big Facebook campaign too.
I’m sure the University had good reasons for seeking to update but you have to say that some of the objectors do have a point about the quality of the new logo.
I remember the old OU logo … are they, by any chance, related? I think we should be told…
Let’s be honest though, the old logo does look like something you would find over the door of a masonic lodge.
I’m sure in the US there is a strong incentive to replace a logo with a book and a quotation which is famously from the Bible before some random atheist lobby group takes you to court over it.
And the new one has a rounded bottom and a cleavage at the top – perhaps this is felt to be more symbolic of the values of modern American education than any outdated concept of creativity or shedding light on things!