A petition called, “Revise the New Quinnipiac University Logo” was created on Sep. 11 using the website Change.org in order to present the university with how many people are displeased with the new university logo and wish for it to be redesigned.

The main complaint people have with the logo has to do with grammar. The logo reads ‘Quinnipiac University,’ but the “u” in university is lowercase.

The university decided to introduce a new brand identity system. It serves as the foundation for communications planning and initiatives, according to Associate Vice President for Public Relations John Morgan.

“This new system, which includes new wordmarks, logo marks, colors, fonts, design motifs, patterns, etc. is a modern interpretation of the past university brand and represents who we are today, a nationally recognized university with a focus on creating extraordinarily well prepared professionals,” Morgan said in a statement.

Morgan said that in the highly competitive higher education marketplace, it’s imperative that the university continues to carefully and consistently manage the brand identity, not only for those who already know that Quinnipiac is an outstanding university, but also for those who are hearing about the school for the first time.

The new logo has sparked controversy to the point where senior marketing major Brett Segelman founded a petition to try and persuade the university to remove the lowercase “u.”

Segelman believes as long as ‘university’ is still a part of the logo, it must adhere to the correct English grammar.

“I get what [the university is] saying. They want to be like Harvard, Yale, Bucknell, where you just say the first word like Quinnipiac, but if it was ever contextually written Bucknell University, Yale University, both first letters would be capitalized. It’s inappropriate for a college that grants English degrees to ignore the most basic components of English grammar, and it really sends the wrong message,” Segelman said.

Sophomore Abigail Burtone agrees that the “u” should be capitalized and thinks the university should take the complaints seriously.

“I think if it’s something the students really care about and if it’s bothering them then I think the school should definitely pay attention to it, because we’re all students here and we love our school and we’re proud that we’re a university,” she said.

Segelman said the complaints about the logo have not derived solely from students, but also from alumni and parents. Segelman even believes potential students may be more hesitant to attend the university due to the grammar.

There is a plethora of comments on the official petition page. One of the comments on it was made by a potential student’s mother, Jodi Katz, who expressed her disdain with the logo.

“I am appalled that Quinnipiac University has chosen this path to go in branding of the university,” she said. “My daughter is a high school senior looking at QU for its highly ranked Journalism program. I have concerns that the university’s academic standards are not challenging enough to attract a higher level of student based on their own faux pass in this situation.”

Segelman said the university shouldn’t have this glaring error.

“It’s already hurting our recruiting efforts,” he said. “This is branding, this goes out to everyone. If people log into our website and see a piece of our material in the mail, it looks like a typo.”

Freshman John Cruz noticed the logo during freshman orientation and he greatly disliked the lowercase “u.” He believes it’s important for students to express their opinions about it if it irritates them, too.

“It seems like it’s over something small, but if a lot of people are feeling like it’s something that needs to be changed then they should absolutely go for it and they should try whatever they want to do,” he said.

Segelman will continue to encourage others to sign the petition until it reaches its goal of 1,000 signatures. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, the petition has reached 908 signatures.

Junior Samantha Paradee was one of many who signed the petition, believing the logo should be redesigned.

“I think it’s important that the student body shows their voice towards the new logo,” she said. “I think the problem that a lot of people are having, including myself, is that university is a proper noun and should be capitalized. Also, Quinnipiac worked really hard to get the university title and now it seems like they’re undermining it.”

Segelman has high hopes that the outcome for the petitions will ultimately persuade the university to capitalize the “u.” He wants the university to realize how much of a hypo-regional issue this is, how it is not just students whining about a minor change. This issue means so much more to students, alumni and parents.

“We’re going to keep pushing it, because it’s already affecting the reputation this college has,” Segelman said. “We need to demonstrate that we are not pleased with this logo, we are not happy with it, it’s sending the wrong message and it needs to change and I think it will change.”