We, the Editorial Board, would like to commend the University administration for the recent improvements to the Nicholls campus. Students can now register for courses online, use their Colonel cards at numerous off-campus sites, opt to live in privatized-housing, and more recently, pay their tuition online. Additionally, students can look to the future for the beginning of construction on the recreation center and for further improvements in student services. However, things have not always been so positive in the past, specifically with the design of the current Nicholls logo in Spring 2001.
Unlike the changes that have occurred during the last two semesters, students were not involved in the logo design, review and selection process. Students, faculty and alumni know and understand what Nicholls represents better than anyone else. Therefore, they should have been involved in the creation process. At the time, students’ designs were not accepted because the University wanted the logo to be designed by someone with real work experience.
If our own University, one in which we have spent the last four or more years at, doesn’t even give us an opportunity to gain valuable work experience, then how are we to expect an outside company to do so? The University, to their credit, did commission a Nicholls alumnus to design the logo.
Even after being in use since 2001, not many students know what the logo is or what it represents. In an informal survey of 100 Nicholls students, we showed them the Nicholls logo and asked “What is this?” and “What does it mean or stand for?” We were amused by some of the responses we received. Of the 100 responses, 51 students answered “I don’t know” or incorrectly identified the logo. Some of the responses included “a man dancing around the fire,” “a guy wind surfing,” “a guy jumping into the flame,” “a person putting out flames” or “Nicholls’ peace symbol.” The other 49 students correctly identified the image as the Nicholls logo, however, none were able to fully explain what it meant or what it stood for. Only six students were able to identify one of the five parts of the logo, the eternal flame of knowledge.
The five parts to the logo and its explanations:
Wave – represents water as the source of all life,
Reed stalk – represents Nicholls’ agricultural surrounding,
Globe – reflects Nicholls’ world-wide influence,
Ellipse – signifies the nurturing spirit of the close interpersonal relationships the University fosters and
Eternal flame – symbolic of the light of knowledge and the 50th Anniversary Monument in the quadrangle.
Although the logo’s meaning may be representative of Nicholls, the logo itself is not. If it takes several minutes to explain the meaning of a logo, then the logo has failed in its intentions to be reflective of the University. Also, the logo’s original intent should be clearly depicted. Most people’s first impression of the logo is that of a windsurfer or a man dancing around a flame. Even though we know no one has actually successfully tried windsurfing down Bayou Lafourche, and the open flame of a crawfish boil is the only flame any one of us has danced around, we know that was not the intention of the administration when they chose this logo. The fact still remains that after 3 years, the logo is still commonly misinterpreted.
The logo will be three years old this March, and in our opinion it is time to consider a new design. One that is much more reflective of the campus community, one that would require less explanation, and more importantly, one that is unmistakably and clearly representative of Nicholls State.