MT. GREENWOOD — Saint Xavier University athletic director Bob Hallberg compared the school's former Cougars logo to a "puppy dog because of its floppy ears."
Hallberg said the new one is "more fierce, more competitive, and it looks like it has blood coming out of its tongue."
"And this one is more fancy than the plain Cougar we had before," Hallberg said. "The other one is not even memorable. It looked like a nice docile kind of cougar."
Hallberg said several administrators were fed up with the former logo last school year, and Saint Xavier worked with Albany, N.Y.-based Creative Communications Associates to develop a cougar that "showed people our teams were here to compete and here to win."
After several failed prototypes, the NAIA school, led by vice president for university relations Robert Tenczar, selected a cougar with a black-and-brown face, red tongue, white eyes and whiskers, and a grayish nose.
The logo will be phased in for the school's existing 17 varsity men's and women's sports teams, said Rob Huizenga, Saint Xavier's assistant athletic director for communications. As a cost-saving measure, many of those teams are still using equipment with the former logo, which was introduced in 1993, Huizenga said. All new jerseys and equipment will use the updated logo, and when teams need replacements, they will be outfitted with the new logo.
The logo was rolled out in August. There already are signs at the school's Bruce R. Deaton Memorial Field, Shannon Center and bookstore. Huizenga said the Shannon Center's basketball floor was redone in July and features the new logo at center court.
"We just wanted to refresh our brand," said Karla Thomas, the school's executive director of media relations.
The Cougars' 268 student-athletes also received T-shirts with the new logo at the beginning of the school year to help advertise it, Huizenga said.
Huizenga and Thomas did not provide a cost for the project.
Hallberg said there has been mixed reaction to the new logo, but noted any conversation about the school is a positive thing.
"I think it's good that we talk about it, and it's stimulated a lot of interest," he said. "I don't think you ever win or lose a game because of your logo, but it's still a part of your identity."
