Pitt plans to implement guidelines preventing independent student organizations from using University trademarks or wordmarks such as “Pitt” or “Panthers” in their names, according to the University.
Under the guidelines, independent student organizations — most student organizations on campus — would not be allowed to use the words “University of Pittsburgh,” “Pitt” or any other Pitt trademark or wordmark like “Panthers” because the organizations are legally separate entities from the University. They would still be able to use the words in their title to identify where the organization is located by wording it as “at Pitt” or “at the University of Pittsburgh.”
“The Office of Student Life has been working closely with Student Government Board leaders to review these guidelines and will continue to provide updates to student organizations as these conversations progress,” Pitt spokesperson Kevin Zwick said in a Friday email.
Student government president Zechariah Brown said in a phone call that SGB is “definitely” working to allow student organizations to keep their current names. Brown said he mentioned concerns about the change in an unrelated Friday meeting with Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner and has already scheduled a meeting with University officials next week to discuss the changes.
Brown said the University currently plans to implement the policy in the fall of 2020, though Zwick said the University is working on the timeline with SGB.
“We’re in the very early stages of figuring out what we can do about it,” Brown said, adding that he understood administrative concerns about student groups using University logos like the Pitt script, but thought student groups should be allowed to use the words “Pitt” and “Panther” in their names.
News about the policy began to spread after SORC announced the change at student leadership training this week A change.org petition is circulating asking Pitt not to implement the rule, calling it “devastating to the brands and image” of the hundreds of student organizations which use one of the words in their name. As of 8:45 p.m. on Friday, the petition had more than 275 signatures.
Justin Fernsler, the technical director of Pitt’s 32-year-old racecar design club Panther Racing, said members of his club are concerned that changing their name would affect their name recognition. The group raises some of its funds through sponsored posts on Instagram, where it has more than 3,000 followers, and officers are worried rebranding would affect their relationships with sponsors.
They’re also concerned about the possibility of having to buy new equipment, Fernsler said.
“We have a lot of expensive equipment and a lot of our stuff is branded as Panther Racing, too,” Fernsler said. “Depending on how far they want to take it, we might have to replace a lot of equipment.”
The guideline only mentions independent student groups, not the set of sponsored student groups that make up SGB’s Assembly, which includes Pitt Program Council and Pitt Serves.
Some universities in the U.S. observe similar policies. Organizations at the University of Houston may not use their school’s name or an abbreviation of it as part of their title, except to designate location or chapter. Registered student organizations at Montana State University may identify themselves only as “The [Club Name] Club of Montana State University, a Registered Student Organization.”
This story is developing.
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