This whole thing is a waste of time. And the stupidity behind it grows with every squandered second that someone ponders the question “Blue wave or Fighting Owls?”
FAU president Frank T. Brogan has announced to the South Florida community that FAU is in search of “a consistent identity” (see page 11). What’s really sad is that Brogan spins a tale about “collegiate identity” (page 11) when all he really wants to do is change the sports logo. I can sit on my worn-out soap box and write a treatise or two about how sports have far too much pull at universities and so on but I’d rather focus on the stupidity of Brogan’s reasoning for why FAU needs to “standardize and refresh the visual image” (page 11).
Brogan is dismayed by the variety of images that FAU has for such important things as “license plates, . . . brochures, posters and other university-produced material” (page 11). Got news for you, Frank – FAU is a diverse environment. FAU consists of seven campuses stretched along four counties and Brogan’s looking for unity?
Not only that, but FAU’s student body population makes the U.N. look homogenized. If there is a unifying theme running throughout FAU it’s the variety of students at FAU. People from different backgrounds, cultures and countries who speak different languages, eat different foods and dress differently. Not to mention that FAU is a non-traditional school which means we have a mix between people straight out of high school, people coming back to school to finish their degrees, seniors auditing classes and everything in between. FAU’s beauty and charm starts with its unique diversity of cultures, ethnicities, religions, ages and so on.
Another concern of Brogan’s is being a “player in the consumer market” (page 11). It’s sickening to hear a university talked about as if it belonged on NASDAQ, but the reality is that FAU does have to raise some money. But even then, I hardly see any would-be contributor closing their pocket book because FAU’s colors have changed over the past 20 years, or we don’t have a cool enough nickname, or maybe they just can’t figure out what to call the university – the Blue Wave or the Fighting Owls? Oh, the agony of it all.
In reality, an audit in August showed that FAU’s last “fund-raising campaign had raised $199-million, almost twice its goal,” according to the Sun-Sentinel in August. So what’s the worry all about? Is the Legislature going to under-fund FAU because the owl isn’t scary enough? No, they’re going to under-fund FAU because JEB! doesn’t care about higher education.This whole logo business is about sports marketability, and for universities that have a fan base it makes some sense to have a recognizable logo. But FAU has no fan base. Nobody goes to the games, whether it’s football, baseball, or basketball (unless they’re playing UM). Most people at FAU just don’t care enough, even when Student Government gives out tuition vouchers.
So Frank, if you have some kind of “if you build it, they will come” mentality about the logo, wake up and get on with your life. If people won’t go to see a winning football, baseball, soft ball, or basketball team now, a silly new logo isn’t going to change that.