New plans for the college seal

President Robert Zeigler said May 4 that faculty and staff will be able to make recommendations for a site to display one of the college seals.

The two college seals on the college monument west of Gonzales and McCreless halls on San Pedro Avenue were removed a few weeks ago by facilities superintendent David Ortega.

“Unfortunately, the seal is currently in an undisclosed location where it is being restored,” Dawn Elmore-McCrary, English professor and Faulty Senate chair, said at the Faculty Senate meeting May 2. “There is now a hole there.”

Elmore-McCrary thought it was unfortunate that the seal had to come down.

The Alamo Colleges logo is displayed on top of a hole where the about 40-pound, bronze college seals used to be, Ortega said.

During the 2010 winter break, the metal Alamo Colleges logo was added to monuments at each of the colleges without notice to the colleges or even presidents.

At this college, the district logo was placed over the college seal, angering long-time faculty who complained the district is trying to obliterate the college’s identity.

The district says the seal was covered because the logo is more recognizable to the public.

Elmore-McCrary said the senate, Adjunct Faculty Council, Staff Council and the Student Government Association will offer ideas for the seal placement, although she also wants to get input from the public.

Adjunct Faculty Council Chair Jerry Townsend said once the council comes up with a plan, he will then relay it to the senate and the president.

“We want to hear the community’s input,” Elmore-McCrary said.

A poll will be conducted after the suggestions have been made.

At the Faculty Senate meeting May 2, English Professor Alex Bernal said students and faculty should have a say in the decision on where the seal should be displayed.

“I think that’s something that we ought to decide or we ought to have a recommendation rather than just have it be imposed on us,” English Professor Alex Bernal said. “If it’s going to be displayed prominently, I think that’s a stance of morale.”

Bernal said he did not like the secrecy concerning the seal, especially because the administration and faculty came up with a compromise at an April 12, 2011, College Council meeting to display both the seal and logo on the monument.

The Ranger reported in November 2006 that Palo Alto College employees and students had a chance to vote on three logos for their college.

The logo designs were even displayed in the student center for everyone to have a chance to look at them before the vote.

Kell Muñoz Architects donated the three logo designs.

At a town hall meeting here March 8, Leslie said the seal was unrecognizable to the community.

Zeigler said the idea of displaying both images did not go through because Chancellor Bruce Leslie wants a “consistent brand image.”

In another surprise attack on the individual identities of the colleges, in March 2009, the board of trustees adopted a new set of logos with no input from the colleges or notice to the college presidents.

The district pays $24,000 a month to Anderson Marketing Group for advertising and marketing, Mario Muniz, district director of public relations, said.

Anderson Marketing Group designed the logos as a part of their contract, Muniz said.

The district has a three-year contract with Anderson Marketing Group, which paid for the design of the district logos, Muniz said.

Core Research did a survey, asking about the community’s perception of Alamo Colleges.

One study Core Research did was conducted for high schools students to identify what school symbols they recognized.

Muniz said in the end the college will save money by having uniform advertising.

He said when the colleges had separate logos they were almost competing with each other as separate institutions.

Now, they are seen as one big institution with one logo.

The contract planned to expire in May, but there was an extension of the contract to end Aug. 31, Muniz said.

Muniz said the district wanted to make the contract coalesce with the fiscal year.

Each logo is bisected by the capstone of the Alamo against a blue field and then each college has a designated color below the Alamo.

Though the district’s 30-page brand standards guide states, “Each college has selected its own color to accompany this blue,” none of the colleges participated in the design process and the logos were introduced at a board meeting with an edict to begin using them.

The names of the colleges were included in the logos, but in disproportionately small lettering.

The Ranger reported that erecting and replacing signage across the district cost almost $16,000.