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But it will no longer represent the academic side of the university.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
Yes. I'm convinced this is all about the chancellor's issues with the political incorrectness about cotton.
ping
Hey, if we can figure out a way to work the Trilateral Commission and the Illuminati into this deal, we've hit the Trifecta! < g >
That should serve to stir up TexTech graduates in general, not just the Textiles majors . . .
They can't seem to face the fact that having a name coach or a good team brings more attention to the school initially, then the academic side has their chance to grab on......... what a waste of money
When schools like Tech and A&M start bending over for the PC police, you know we have problems. UT, as much as I hate to say it, sold it's soul decades ago and now the whole city of Austin is a San Francisco/Berkley clone.
Nice job on the seal, but you forgot to remove the shield in the middle of the seal. It reminds us of the crusades, it has to go too.
Your correct about Smith.. I am not sure why he is in West Texas.... Send him to University of Texas where they would appreciate his liberal views. I find it haughty of hinm that he will not live in the Chancellor's house that is provied by the University. He is too dang good for that home.. he NEEDS TO GO ASAP inho,
got your FReepmail. it's the "official" statements being issued. it's tripe. thought you'd be interested in above story. according to the chancellor (at the end of the story), you've got "too much time on your hands" and your efforts are "ridiculous".
How about a Texas ping on this one? The Tech grads out there need to rescue their school from the PC police.
I don't know, but my mom and dad picked cotton as migrant workers, and met in that capacity. This hard work is what clothed and fed them in the early years, started their nest-egg, and motivated them to become more than migrant workers and made them passionate about us being more than that. As such, cotton is a big part of my family's heritage and the reason that even my former migrant farmworker mom is outraged about this development.
Anybody who's ever been to Lubbock knows that it is surrounded by cotton farms. No telling how many cotton farmers' kids attend Texas Tech.
Thanks.. I sent him an email. He is nuts. I too wish Coach Knight would have decked him hard with a radish last year... Smith needs to go ASAP!
That's the whole point. The story is just a cover to hide the fact that they are removing a depiction of the cross. If they had said what they are really doing (purging the seal of the cross) then there would be an outcry. They think this will keep the pot from boiling over and that they can get away with it. And they probably will.
Tech hired a consulting firm, Lipman-Hearne of Chicago, to do an image study during 2004. They found that Texas Tech was known primarily for its athletic teams. We then employed the Sherry Matthews, Inc advertising firm from Austin to develop a campaign designed to enhance the academic image of the university. That firm includes one individual who grew up in Lubbock and another who graduated from Texas Tech.
The firm developed a marketing strategy and has thus far presented it to the Regents and The President’s Administrative Council that includes all the deans. Separate presentations have also been made to the staff and the faculty. They have also presented it to focus groups in Dallas and Houston and are scheduled to present it to a group in Austin on Monday night.
I saw the presentation given to the Administrative Council and also saw a brief presentation given by Chancellor David Smith to the a recruiting meeting of the Chancellor’s Council.
These presentations demonstrated how the Seal of the university would be sharpened using computer graphics to update the elements on the Seal. As I understand it, they were first hand-drawn in 1923.
There is some controversy over a suggestion to eliminate the cotton bolls that are on the current seal and replace them with a vine representing agricultural products. I don’t think this issue is final and, based on many negative e-mail messages and phone calls, will certainly be reviewed.
I favor enhancing the Seal by giving it a sharper image. I am not convinced that elements on the Seal need to be changed.
I am going to end this by sharing a letter from Chancellor Smith regarding these changes that will appear in the next Texas Techsan.
Again, thank you for writing. It indicates that you have some strong feelings about Texas Tech.
In other words, this is penis envy between the Athletic Department and the Academic Departments..........
It doesn't have anything to do with cotten. That story is just to divert attention away from the removal of the sign of the cross from the seal. That's what it really is about.
There aren't many Lubbockites that have noticed the cross side of the story.
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. You've cut right through the PC garbage. This has nothing to do with cotton. That story is just to divert your attention from the real goal.
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