The Glen Oaks Viking logo will be taking on a new look. The college’s board of trustees recently approved moving forward with rebranding the logo used primarily for Viking athletics.
“The idea of rebranding the athletic logo surfaced last fall from a request for a more gender-neutral look,” said Valorie Juergens, executive director of communications and marketing. “The college has used a version of the Minnesota Vikings logo which features a male Viking for many years. We actually had an alumnus, Chris Young, president and CEO of Kal-Blue, in Kalamazoo, and his team put together some gender-neutral logo concepts that we vetted among members of the broader Glen Oaks community through surveys and focus groups. The idea of rebranding the logo was overwhelmingly accepted and of the proposed concepts, one stood out as the frontrunner.”
The new design features a Viking helmet with horns and the word Vikings underneath in the college’s green and yellow colors. “We haven’t changed the Viking name,” said Juergens, “as the helmet has been a key element of our logo all along. The new design is not tied to a specific race or ethnic culture. It will be exclusive to Glen Oaks rather than the previous logo which is currently in use by many college and K-12 schools.”
There’s a renewed emphasis in Viking athletics, as bowling was added a year ago and cross-country will be offered in the fall. There are plans to renovate the athletic media room, and a preliminary plan to upgrade the south campus wing would include renovations to the existing men’s and women’s locker rooms and construction of visitor locker rooms.
“We have a new Viking Athletic board in the entryway to Ken Schuler Court which features both the Athletic Hall of Fame and All-American Athletic recipients,” said Juergens. “With the recent unveiling of the Foundation’s new Athletic Academic Recognition Wall, we feel the timing is right to consider the logo change,” said Juergens. “The next step is to put together a timetable of how we will be rolling it out.”
The college will retain the familiar seal and leaf logos that are used in more official documents and general promotional materials for the college. The Viking logo more specifically identifies with Viking athletics.