Washburn waves bye to "W" logo
Originally published 09:13 p.m., September 16, 2008
Updated 10:30 p.m., September 16, 2008
Washburn University agreed to pay thousands of dollars to modify a logo at the center of a trademark lawsuit. Just a "W: The President" is about to leave office, W: the logo is leaving Washburn University/
In an agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Washburn University said it would change its athletic "W" logo.
"There was a lawsuit over a 'W'," asked Washburn Freshman Elizabeth Wells.
Apparently, a university by any other letter would not smell as sweet, so in an agreement with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Washburn University is tipping it's hat to its athletic "W" logo.
"Our modification will be (that) we're adding an element of some type to it," said Dena Anson, Washburn spokeswoman. "It'll either be the Washburn name, or the word Ichabod or the image of the Ichabod."
Earlier this year, the University of Wisconsin-Madison sued Washburn over trademark infringement for the "W."
"The agreement is in no way acknowledgment by Washburn that we infringed on the trademark," Anson said. "It was a business decision to enter into the agreement based on the high cost of litigation."
The cost to change won't be cheap either. The symbol is all over campus, from flags, to football helmets, shirts, hats, signs and even license plates.
Most students weren't happy about the change.
"They're in Wisconsin," said Landry Fehrenbacher, a freshman at Washburn. "We're down here in Kansas. I think it seems ridiculous."
He sat next to Wells on the Washburn campus talking about the suit.
"It makes me upset because it seems like such a stupid argument," Wells said. "I mean, it's a 'W'."
Sophomore Carrie Pennewell said it should have been a viable lawsuit.
"It was two different colors and it was representing two different divisions," she said. "So I didn't think Wisconsin should have been suing our school over it."
However, some say the lawsuit and the change are warranted.
"If we trademarked it as well, then we were trying to take ownership of it," said Joe Fitzgerald, alumnus. "So it's only fair if they had ownership first."
No matter what students think of the lawsuit, they can expect to see changes soon. A university spokeswoman said a graphic artist is working on the changes right now and the university hopes to implement them soon.
Still, Washburn did receive some time to phase out merchandise with the standalone "W."
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