The Oracle
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A new look for USF
USF System President Judy Genshaft announced a rebranding of the university during her Annual Fall Address Wednesday afternoon.
Potential changes ahead for Center for Victim Advocacy
By Jesse Stokes E D I T O R
The logo will officially take effect Oct. 14 during Homecoming week, according to USF System President Judy Genshaft. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING By Alyssa Stewart A S S I S T A N T
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It’s a new era of sorts for USF. And it has the logo to match. System President Judy Genshaft announced a change in branding for the university in front of a nearly-filled 700-seat Oval Theatre in the Marshall Student Center on Wednesday afternoon. Following USF’s newly-gained preeminence status, Genshaft unveiled the university’s new academic logo, which features a forest-green background and a lime-green bull that resembles the first bull in front of the Marshall Student Center. The logo also features the letters “USF” next to it, also in lime green. The new logo will officially take effect Oct. 14 during Homecoming week and will replace USF’s prior
logo, which featured “USF” in a blocklike font with the “University of South Florida” under it, in full by January. USF’s Communication and Marketing team designed three potential logos before reaching its final decision. Chief Marketing Executive Joe Hice said the new logo embodies elements from all three USF campuses. “The slashes in the chest represent the different campuses, the inspiration from the three university bulls and the fact that the “Bull U” is right in the design is such a good story that will draw people in and will get them to want to know more about the university,” Hice said. Genshaft said the rebranding is going to represent all of USF’s academic units and departments, while the traditional “U” with bullhorns remaining for USF athletics.
“Like any great organization, we now have a clear, consistent brand to guide us as we continue to evolve in the future,” Genshaft said. The consolidation plan to combine the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses made establishing one concise brand important, Genshaft said, to establish an identity. “Last year, it was my desire to see the university consolidate around one clear brand,” Genshaft said. “Now more than ever before it is time for us to tell our story the right way.” After the reveal of the new logo, Genshaft addressed the audience by exclaiming “don’t you love it,” in which the audience matched her positive energy. Within the past couple of months, USF has worked closely with SPARK
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The Center for Victim Advocacy provides survivors of abuse — such as, sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking — an on-campus resource to consult with professionals about what to do next. However, according to a group of concerned students and faculty, the center could soon face major and potentially questionable changes, though administration contends that any possible alterations will not impact the services provided to members of the campus community. Caroline Jackson, the president of the N.I.T.E. (Network. Improve. Transform. Inspire.) student organization — a group that advocates for student safety and health — said there’s a plan to change the role from “victim advocate” to “victim assistant,” something she, being a victim of abuse herself, is not comfortable with. “I am a student who credits the Center for Victim Advocacy for helping me get through my freshman year,” Jackson said. “I do not know If I would have continued classes without their services. I am a concerned student, just as an ally, and also someone who has seen the importance of The Center for Victim Advocacy.” According to Rita DeBate, the associate vice president of Health and Wellness, the exact changes that come with the difference in titles are not fully laid out and are a part of a larger and on-going conversation. According to Jackson, these changes were decided behind closed doors. Jackson added that the only way she and her peers were made aware of this change was from a posting on Indeed — a job listing website — which lists a position available for “Assistant Director - Victim Assistance and Violence Prevention.”
Michelle Hughes Miller, a member of the Women’s Status Committee and a faculty member of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, echoed the points of Jackson and added that there is concern that victim cases may be outsourced to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, approximately four miles off campus. However, according to DeBate, no plans for such changes have officially been put into place and the ideas are still in the developmental stage. “Our ultimate goal is to reduce gender-based violence,” DeBate said. DeBate also said the conversations began after a number of administrative officials — including, a Title IX Investigator, the director of Student’s Rights and Responsibilities and the director of the Center for Victim Advocacy and Student Outreach and Support — left the university, which allowed for a time to review areas in need of improvement. As a result of this, DeBate said that she is working toward developing a “Coordinated Community Response Team,” which will be comprised of students, faculty and staff, to evaluate areas in need of improvement. This is something that Chris Ponticelli, the chair of the Women’s Status Committee, said is vital moving forward. “This has all taken place, these plans to revamp, in secret,” Ponticelli said. “Something that is that big of a change impacts, not just nearly 50,000 students, but also staff and faculty, because they can use (The Center for Victim Advocacy’s) resources too. To do that in secret, without calling on experts on campus who know about victim advocacy, about how students react to things, it is unconscionable.” Jackson echoed her points and added that she is hoping for more student input in the future. “The secrecy and the real
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