GRAMBLING — Grambling State supporters are still digesting quick administrative approval for the first new athletic logo in decades.
They have questioned how aggressively GSU worked to regain a lost copyright on the old design — and what the school did to forecast the profits from a new logo.
Perhaps just as importantly, they also would like to know why more boosters weren't brought into the loop.
"I wonder who they consulted with?" said Paul Taylor, who never misses a GSU home game. "I stay in Grambling and have not heard anything about a logo change."
Several supporters, including Taylor, praised an innovative online poll being conducted by Marquette that will actually allow fans to decide its new nickname. "They had students, alumni and avid supporters vote on the mascot name," Taylor said.
The traditional "G" logo is being replaced, athletics director Willie Jeffries confirmed earlier this week, because GSU's 1974 trademark has lapsed. That has allowed outside vendors to produce and sell Grambling-related items without giving any revenue to the school.
Some fans, including 1983 graduate D'Wayne L. Priestley Sr., want to know why the school doesn't simply renew the trademark — and then aggressively pursue those who are using the old logo unlawfully.
In an e-mail sent to school president Horace Judson on Tuesday night, then forwarded to dozens of GSU boosters, Priestley asked: "If a feasibility study or similar analysis has been conducted that indicates that a modification would be advantageous and will bring significant revenue streams, please present or provide that data."
No official response has come from GSU, because the school hasn't issued an announcement about the new logo — and the top administrators aren't returning phone messages from The News-Star regarding the switch.
But university spokeswoman Vickie Jackson answered Priestley's e-mail later on Tuesday, and Priestley again forwarded it across the country.
In it, Jackson indicated that GSU is at work on a visual standards guide, which will include the university logo, signature, motto, presidential seal, color and the mascot. The logo switch, she wrote, is part of a larger attempt to standardize the school's overall look.
"The modification of the athletic logo is but one part of a total branding process," Jackson wrote. "GSU is a step behind almost every university in the country in branding and standardizing its look. With the name recognition and international renown that it has, Grambling should have been in complete control of its brand, logos and vendor-related activities many years ago."
She added that members of the Office of Alumni Affairs, the president of the alumni association, the athletic department and student representatives were all involved in the project.
Not all fans were outraged, though even they say this new look will take some getting used to.
"Sometimes change is good," said Scott A. Lewis III, a former All-American at Grambling who was selected in the second round of the 1971 draft by Kansas City. "In the commercial side of business, promotions tend to draw more interest than inactivity."
He then laughed, and added: "I am still making the transition from Grambling College to GSU!"
Source: TheNewsStar.com
Posted By: Darryl D. Smith
Thursday, May 26th 2005 at 5:43PM
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