You’ve seen it all over campus by now. It’s on the newly printed posters hanging from athletic facilities. It’s printed on the chest of the new St. John’s sweatshirts. It’s on the uniforms of our student athletes.
It’s the new logo and it’s everywhere. But why the change?
The change in logo comes a few short months after the change in the St. John’s brand from SJU to STJ. St. John’s could not obtain the domain sju.edu because St. Joseph’s University of Philadelphia already registered it. In an attitude of “all or nothing,” St. John’s dropped its trademark of SJU completely.
This new logo lends itself easier to an “STJ” abbreviated version than the older one. It’s another product of a questionable decision made by the University.
But instead of another move that turns its back on tradition, this one seems to be making the best of a bad situation.
According to Athletic Director Chris Monasch, there was a lot
of preparation put into making this decision. The athletic department wants to go in a new direction and the logo is representative of the change.
“We just wanted to have kind of a fresh look as we continue to build the program,” Monasch said. “People want to wear stuff that is aligned with a program that is successful.”
He added: “What we’re trying to do now is have really tight guidelines on how it’s used so that it becomes the look…when you see this logo, you’ll recognize, and that will help us hopefully in it having staying power.”
With the logo comes new responsibility. In order to build its reputation as a trademark of a winning St. John’s tradition, the athletic department has an extra duty to win. And that benefits the fans, who are buying the tickets and the logo-emblazoned clothing.
It’s also encouraging to see that the fans and student athletes played a role in choosing the logo that will represent them.
“We showed it to the student athletes, to the coaches, to administrators, to fans, to people on campus,” Monasch said. “We showed it to a lot of people. The process included a wide array of people of various opinions about the new look.”
But perhaps the most important aspect of a new logo is simpler then all that. The bottom line is: how does it look?
“I think its pretty sharp looking,” Monasch said. “We really did a good study of looking all the way back to the first logo there ever was.”
The logo incorporates some of St. John’s athletic history. It even looks like a throwback. The old logo was sleek, neat and futuristic but had no collegiate aspects. This is “old school” with emphasis on the “school.”
Comparatively, it’s cold versus inviting. It’s corporate versus communal. It’s old versus energized. Let’s just hope the look of the logo will now correspond with what it’s been created to represent.
