Trinity University officials are engaging with some of the very alumni who voiced concerns about the recent adoption of a new university logo. After the initiative was halted, many of them volunteered to help, officials said.
The new logo was part of a recently launched “brand refresh,” which also included a website redesign and messaging update. But after an overwhelming response from the community against the new logo, officials decided to pause its adoption and go back to the drawing board.
“These were alumni who shared their concerns, but offered constructive criticism,” said Tom Evelyn, vice president for strategic communications and marketing, in an interview on Friday. “In many cases they said, ‘I would welcome the opportunity to join a group to discuss this further.’ A lot of people volunteered themselves.”
Next week, they will begin reaching out to those who offered to help, he said, to create a working group of alumni with marketing and design backgrounds to help lead the process.
The goal is to form a group that includes representation from alumni of different graduating classes, Evelyn said. And allow them to walk through the process without any preconceived notions about where they might land, be it a full new design, the adjustment of what is now available or any other option.
The new logo — a minimalist design of maroon triangles arranged in a circle to form a sun — overshadowed the entire rebrand, as it received overwhelming negative comments across social media platforms.
There were also direct emails, calls and messages from alumni, Evelyn said, which tended to be less angry in nature and more constructive in their criticism.
These comments were mixed, he said, mostly falling into two categories: Those who were appreciative of its history and meaning of the sun but didn’t like this particular design, and those who wanted the Murchison Tower to remain in the emblem.
While it wasn’t clear which social media comments and posts were coming from actual alumni, direct messages and emails were easier to identify, Evelyn said.
For universities, both private and public, alumni play a vital supporting role, funding scholarships, endowments, tutoring students, offering internships and more. Trinity University’s has more than 30,000 alumni, 11 regional alumni clubs and more than 100 annual alumni events, according to Trinity’s website.
While Evelyn and his team were expecting some criticism, the turning point for deciding to pause the launch of the logo alone was based on the volume of feedback, he said.
“The overwhelming passion indicated that there was an opportunity here to harness that passion and consider a direction that addresses the thought of the concerns,” he said. “And we really didn’t want to distract from all the other amazing things that are happening at Trinity.”
In an interview prior to launch of the rebrand, Trinity University President Vanessa Beasley, expressed the need to appeal to a wider audience that is no longer just regional but national. This is due to the university’s rankings, which have placed it as No. 37 out of 207 national liberal arts colleges.
While the university is not struggling to attract applicants, officials said that demographic changes and this new level of national attention means they can’t wait to lose students to update their messaging and brand.
“Our name is showing up in places that it hasn’t been before,” Beasley said, before the launch. “And we’re finding that there’s more traffic to the website. There are more people saying, “You know, I never heard of Trinity University in Texas. I want to know more about it.’”
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