UConn on Thursday "officially unveiled its new logo, and addressed the largely negative reaction" since the news became public earlier this month, according to a front-page piece by Don Amore of the HARTFORD COURANT. AD Warde Manuel asserted that the change was "not motivated by money, but to give the school's athletic teams a consistency in identity." Manuel: "This is not about merchandising. This is not about our trying to change to make more money. This is to make sure our identity is clear. ... The majority of the public probably couldn't care less that one number is this way and another number is that way. But we do. We want that consistency that identifies a mark for us." UConn's athletes, who were "surveyed during the yearlong logo process, offered the opinion that the old logo was too 'friendly,' too 'puppy-ish' or 'cartoonish' or 'looked tired' because the tongue was hanging out." Manuel said that the old logo was "not a husky but a malamute or Samoyed." The new logo is "based on a Siberian husky." UConn teams over the years had "gone off in their own directions on uniforms and logos." There were "several versions, from an interlocking U-C, to a C with a basketball inside it, and numerous fonts." The school is "rebranding itself as UCONN, all capital letters, and its uniforms will reflect that." The word "UCONN," in bold letters outlined in red, will "be on all of the school's athletic unforms." The baseball team will "retain the 'C' on its caps." The new football helmets "feature the new Husky dog on top, its eyes peering from the front of the helmet." UConn "retains the rights to all of its old logos, which will be used on licensed 'throw-back' items" (HARTFORD COURANT, 4/19).
