Posted on 05/05/2005 4:57:02 AM PDT by hispanarepublicana
Cotton stripped from Tech seal BY ELLIOTT BLACKBURN AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Texas Tech may face a fight from cotton farming alumni after the school announced Wednesday it would pluck the symbolic tufts of the West Texas crop from the school seal.
The changes are part of a broader marketing campaign to be launched early next year that Tech officials hope will improve the university's national reputation.
Chancellor David Smith refuted rumors Wednesday that the school was abandoning its past for the marketing effort.
A-J File Photo
"It is not undoing tradition, it is not undoing pride," Smith said of the changes. "We need a platform to celebrate what Texas Tech is accomplishing as a system."
But Eddie Smith, chairman of the Plains Cotton Cooperative Association and a Tech alumnus who was honored as an outstanding agriculturist last year by the university, said the omission ignored the major contributions cotton made to Tech.
"There's a lot of us that are tied to this university that are not going to let it slide by," Smith said.
School and system officials announced the changes Wednesday in an effort to counter an anonymous e-mail and message board campaign rallying opposition to the revisions.
The Internet campaign sparked rumors of school officials abandoning the Double T trademark while retooling school marketing materials.
In a hastily organized news conference held in response to e-mails and phone calls from concerned alumni, school officials stressed that the beloved Double T logo stitched onto merchandise, emblazoned on the sides of buildings and printed in the letterhead of the press releases distributed Wednesday would not be retired.
"The Double T has an indefinite contract," said Craig Wells, senior associate athletics director. "It's going to be around forever and ever and ever."
But it will no longer represent the academic side of the university. A new seal was designed by an Austin firm as part of a broader marketing campaign that has a $450,000 budget this year. The seal will be featured on academic communications, Chancellor Smith said.
Texas Tech seal Designed in 1927 by campus master planner William Watkin. Formally adopted in 1953. The Saddle Tramps raised $24,750 in 1972 to fund the 37,500-pound granite seal at the main entrance of the campus. The monument will not be changed to reflect the new design, according to Chancellor David Smith.Source: Texas Tech Web site
The seal will replace the myriad symbols each college and program had developed and present a more uniform message, said Bill Dean, executive director of the Texas Tech Alumni Association.
"It's possible for someone to get four or five pieces of correspondence from different areas of Tech and they could all look different," Dean said. "So I think it's a step in the right direction to try and standardize this.
"As to whether they should change it or not," Dean said, "I think that's another question that probably needs to be revisited a little bit."
The modified seal must still be approved by the Tech Board of Regents, which will meet next week.
Cotton bolls that form a cross in the middle of the school shield and represent the 10 cotton-producing counties around Tech were removed from the new design. Instead, a more general "vine-like" image will represent all of agriculture.
A granite monument to the seal erected at the main entrance of the campus in 1972 would not be changed to reflect the new design, Chancellor Smith said.
Several administrators admitted that they did not realize that the round, somewhat crudely drawn shapes splitting the school shield symbolized cotton.
The new design has a clearer symbol of agriculture, and the chancellor said it reflects that Tech is no longer a regional university but a system with seven campuses.
"You've got to decide that you're going to play in that larger sandbox," Smith said.
The changes were not acceptable, alumnus Eddie Smith said.
"Vines are weeds in my cotton fields," Smith said. "I think it's a mistake, and I wish they would ask the people who've supported the university through the years."
Speculation on the changes scattered throughout Lubbock and cyberspace Wednesday. Several alumni were baffled that the changes would be made with little public input.
"Change is inevitable," said Don Harris, a Lubbock appraiser and Tech alumnus. "On the other hand, if it isn't broken, why fix it?"
W.B. "Dub" Rushing, a long-time Tech contributor, said he had no problems with the changes as long as they were for a positive reason.
The school has weathered strong reactions to other changes, such as a proposal to call the school Texas Tech and the recent revisions on the Double T logo, he said. But administrators should be careful about change for change's sake, he said.
"I don't see anything wrong with the present seal," Rushing said. "If it would only make the alumni mad, and that's where their gifts come from - all you have to do is kill off a dozen people and that could be $12 million."
More Tech faithful, including cotton farmers, would warm to the new design once they understood why the changes were being made, Chancellor Smith said.
The outcry Wednesday showed that people cared about the university, but the controversy was overblown, he said.
"A lot of people had a lot of extra time today," Smith said. "It was kind of ridiculous." OLD:
NEW:
To comment on this story:
elliott.blackburn@lubbockonline.com 766-8722
brian.williams@lubbockonline.com t 766-8717
I just responded to an email I received from school saying this was nothing more than a removal of the symbolic cross on the seal - I wonder if I'll get a response to that?
Awesome! Let me know.
But it's deniable that it's a cross when the ACLU threatens to sue. The cotton cross is not deniable. Can you see the difference?
LOL..... Did you know slick willie is here in AUSTIN (puke puke) today at a booksigning? I forgot all about that or I'd be down there with a "Jail the RAPIST" sign.
After I got the ping from Meek, I figured yoou'd be on this thread too.
If they could just play defense...
How did you know I was capable of hissy fitting?
If the academics are so smart, why do they have to hire firms from Chicago and Austin to do studies of something they claim is being done all over the country?
"...she used quotation marks around many comments..."
If there's anyone with too much time on their hands it's the people who initiated this idea. (Bet their hands cramp up from making the little " signs in meetings...)
So much for celebrating diversity, huh? If Smith gets his way (and that's really what this is about...him literally leaving his mark) Tech's seal will be as attractive and unique as the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Oh, I had a feeling....
I've gone hoarse yelling that sentiment often.
Seems like there is a couple of potential job openings in Lubbock...if you get my drift.
Why do we need to play defense when we have such a great offense? lol
LOL! You're mom is a real card, it sounds like.
I'm a Tech alumnii, do you think they'll listen?
Because they don't care if cotton is or is not on the seal. They DO care if there is a cross on the seal or not. They are trying to head off an ACLU lawsuit. But if they just go ahead and say they are trying to take the cross off, there will be an uproar from everyone concerned. Claiming it is about "cotton" is a way to eliminate the cross without pissing off a bunch of alumni. The stealth approach works.
Just think: how many seals have had to have their crosses removed in the last two years? Several cities and Los Angeles County are the most well-known. How many have had controversy over depictions of "cotton"? None. They are trying to stave off an ACLU lawsuit.
How long is Smith's contract?
ping to #94
Well, where's the lettuce and tomatoes (and basketballs).
Not with this alum.
ROFLOL
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