With a new university logo underway, the athletic department will also see a change in its logo.
“It was a process we started this academic year,” said Jon Mark Hall, athletic director. “I think it was time for us to have a more modern look. Most athletic departments across the country over the last handful of years have changed their look. I think it was time for us to do it.”
The athletic logo reads “Southern Indiana” with an eagle underneath – both are dominated by the USI blue color with USI red surrounding “Screaming Eagles.”
Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Communications Kindra Strupp said USI debated on whether to keep the “Screaming” in with the “Eagles.”
“Everyone voted on keeping it, saying it made us original,” she said.
The next decision was whether to make it “screaming” or “screamin’.” The committee decided it would be best to keep it “screaming,” but it thought of all different kinds of possibilities.
Hall, a member of the committee, didn’t have a set idea of what he wanted in the athletic logo.
“I think I’m really pleased,” Hall said. “There are a lot of schools that are the Eagles, and there aren’t any I think that are the Screaming Eagles, but there weren’t a lot of eagles out there that I really gravitated toward.”
They asked Hall to give some examples of eagles that he liked, but the pickings were slim, he said.
“I kind of convinced myself that I would be really glad we had a new one, but I wasn’t convinced that I would like the eagle. But, I was pleasantly surprised that I really do like the eagle.”
All of the fonts used in the future will be USI’s own personal font named after it.
The designers who worked with USI narrowed down the USI font so jerseys could have two numbers on it.
“We will have to work with (a) manufacturer,” Hall said. “It will be a learning process.”
It will take time for the logo to appear all over the athletic department, though.
“My hope would be over the next couple of years, we would have it turned around,” Hall said.
The men’s soccer team will be the first to wear the new logo because the team needed new jerseys.
“Our thought right now is that it will be a normal progression,” Hall said. “Over time when we buy new apparel, equipment and uniforms, we’ll obviously integrate the new logo into it. But, we won’t make any changes to incorporate the logo right now. From a financial standpoint, you can’t do everything at once. We have to take our time.”
The soccer team wore its jersey Wednesday during the USI Look event when the logos were unveiled.
Indiana’s state legislature authorized USI capital money to renovate the Physical Activities Center (PAC) in 2013.
The university is beginning to plan the renovations this summer. Hall said the renovation is another reason the department is waiting to bring in the new logo immediately.
“It’s a while out,” Hall said. “I think the floor of the PAC will be a high priority. Then we will look at scoreboards and signage throughout the building and hit that when we can.”
One other thing will change with the new logos: Archie.
Archie, USI’s mascot, will receive another makeover, but the university is asking for student input. Students will have the opportunity to vote on what they think Archie should look like.
“We want him to be more aggressive and more muscular rather than cartoony,” Strupp said.
