FAU mascot could be going extinct
In an article published in the Palm Beach Post on Friday, September 26, 2003, PB Post Staff-writer Marcus Nelson talked about FAU possibly changing it’s logo for a more licensable product.
Don’t worry students, its just talk at this point. As the student that will most likely be sitting on the committee, if a committee is ever formed, I will keep you apprised of changes.
Why is there talk of there being a change? It makes complete sense: we are marketing many different things. We have our Fighting Owl football team, the Blue Wave baseball team, the Lady Owls basketball team, and the Owls (most common nickname). We also have an FAU winged logo vs. an Owl for our logo. And our colors? Officially: blue and gray for the ocean and the sand. Unofficially: red; white; blue; yellow; gray and one athletic team wanted to have their uniforms black this year. This is exactly why we need to pick one thing and just stick with it!
Just like in a relationship that a partner doesn’t know what he/she wants (as many of you experience daily) we don’t know what we want.
An online poll was conducted by the PB Post on the same web page as the article. The question: “What FAU nickname do you prefer?” The results: Blue Wave 63%; Fighting Owls 31%; Other 4%; Titans 2%. Over 19,500 total votes were cast. Yes, the results surprised me as well.
So who exactly voted? I don’t know to be honest with you. I can take an educated guess: it wasn’t the student body of FAU. In fact, I might be so risky to actually guess that it was the FAU community that has a liking for FAU Athletics. And after all, students don’t show up at athletic games, the community does. So should we listen to possibly 63% of our fan base; 63% of our customers; 63% of our revenue and change our name?
FAU is about an education but it is also a business. FAU has to sell its name to the community to receive money so that we can pay top professors to do top-notch research and to turn our students into prominent scholars.
Personally, I don’t have an opinion one way or the other. If I had to make a choice right now, I would say Blue Wave. The closest thing to the “Blue Wave” name is the Green Wave of Tulane. The “Owls” are shared with Rice and Temple, and the Titans also represent Cal-State Fullerton. Blue Wave is a very marketable name that represents all seven campuses. There aren’t owls on all seven campuses. Keep that in mind.
Before you leave: one more thing-in 1995, a committee was set up to examine this same topic. A vote was taken: with the Sharks, Blue Wave, and Owls voted in that order. No matter what name we pick, we must pick one, and move forward with a unified logo, color scheme and mascot.
That’s all for now. And remember: Although $mitty is spelled with a dollar sign, Student Government using your A&S fees to give you free stuff, MAKES CENTS!
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