UMC Adopts New Golden Eagle Logo
The University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) Golden Eagle has received a makeover. The newly refined version of the UMC Golden Eagle was unveiled recently at the annual faculty and staff recognition day.
The impetus for the redesign and refinement came from comments that the former Golden Eagle was somewhat passive, according the Curt Almlie, Director of University Relations at UMC. UMC adopted the original Golden Eagle as its mascot in 1996, shortly after the college made the transition to granting baccalaureate degrees and competing in a new athletic conference. “We always knew that particular mascot image and logo would eventually be revisited,” says Almlie.
The development of the new look was very deliberate. The UMC Image Marketing Committee discussed the need for a more marketable logo. The goal was to create a logo that was “a bit more aggressive and more stylized,” says Andrew Svec, UMC’s director of communications. With that goal in mind, the committee hired local marketing and graphic design agency Ad Monkeys, based in Grand Forks, ND, to help conceptualize the new image.
The development and refinement process involved students, faculty, staff, and coaches. “We really wanted to hear what students had to say at each step of the new logo’s development,” says Svec, “since, in the end, this image really represents them.” The UMC Student Association played a large role in offering student feedback. Suggestions from that group helped refine the final image. “This kind of change takes time and thought,” adds Almlie. “The people involved with the process put in a great deal of time to come up with a logo that we think is going to be great for UMC—something we can really be proud of.”
Student reaction to the new UMC Golden Eagle has been extremely positive, according to Svec. “Current students seem to like it, and we’ve been giving t-shirts with the new logo to students who are coming to campus to register for fall semester,” he says. “The overwhelming reaction has been ‘Wow! That’s cool!’”
Posted 05/22/2001
Contact: Andrew Svec,
218-281-8435