SAN ANTONIO ? The University of Texas at San Antonio Athletics Department will unveil its new logos and word marks during Homecoming activities on Saturday. UTSA will host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a Southland Conference men’s basketball clash at 7 p.m. (televised locally on Time Warner Cable channel 50) at the Convocation Center, topping a full slate of Homecoming Day festivities.
Lone Star Special Tees of San Antonio and Follett Corporation, the vendor that operates UTSA bookstores, developed T-shirts, sweatshirts, pennants, banners and other merchandise featuring the new logos and word marks. Much of the merchandise will be on sale March 1 in the Convocation Center and the 1604 Campus bookstore and also beginning as early as Saturday at select San Antonio area locations of Academy, Lids, Wal-Mart, Walgreen’s, Dillard’s, News & Gifts and Champs/Foot Locker locations at Rivercenter, North Star and South Park malls.
The Homecoming unveiling culminates a year-long process to update the Roadrunners logos and create athletics word marks. The Athletic Department contracted Rickabaugh Graphics from Gahanna, Ohio, to design the new marks. Rickabaugh is one of the nation’s top studios for athletics, corporate and other graphic design work.
“We contracted the best and took our time to develop new logos and word marks that are acceptable to the entire campus community,” UTSA athletics director Lynn Hickey said. “The unveiling is the culmination of a year of design work, focus group interviews and administration approvals. We think that we have new logos and word marks that will become familiar trademarks for UTSA Athletics.”
The Roadrunner, a bird common to the Texas Hill Country and the Southwest, was chosen as the UTSA mascot in 1977, narrowly defeating the armadillo in a student election. Since that time, students have nicknamed the cocky, long-beaked mascot “Rowdy.” The old logo depicts an upright Rowdy looking much like the well-known Kansas Jayhawk.
On April 5 and 7, UTSA will serve as the host institution for the NCAA Men’s Final Four at the Alamodome. It will be the fourth time that UTSA has hosted the Men’s Final Four, more than any other university. The new logos and word marks will help differentiate the Roadrunners from other bird mascots on the national scene, according to Hickey.
“During the past three Final Fours, Rowdy has been mistaken for the Kansas Jayhawk,” Hickey said. “The new logo is distinctively UTSA and the new word marks allow us to tie our University’s name directly to the Roadrunner mascot for the first time. This will be particularly helpful in designing new uniforms and souvenir merchandise.”
Homecoming Day activities at the Convocation Center begin at 9 a.m. with the 24th annual UTSA Alumni Association Diploma Dash 5K Run/Walk. The UIL High School Boys Basketball Regional Championship game will be played at 1 p.m. at the Convocation Center. The Homecoming Tailgate Party begins at 4 p.m. followed by the UTSA/Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men’s basketball game at 7 p.m. Merchandise featuring the new logo will be on sale throughout the day at the Convocation Center and at the UTSA Bookstore in the University Center from 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
