Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Jacksonville University Debuts New Branding

Jacksonville University's athletic department is rolling out new branding while celebrating its past.

The private liberal arts college along the St. Johns River in Arlington has unveiled new logos and has a new video to go with them.

The new look keeps the dolphin but with some new flourishes, incorporating a subtle fin between the J and the U.

They come as the university completes a $120 million fundraising campaign.

"The time was right for a complete reimagining of our brand identity," said Senior Vice President and Athletic Director Alex Ricker-Gilbert in a news release.” Gilbert proudly pointed out that the university has captured eight championships and made ten national postseason appearances, which a video released by the university touches on.

“We have also seen a dramatic increase in our fundraising support, sponsorships participation, and attendance at our games. This new brand will appropriately represent us on the national stage and reflect who we are both as a department and an institution," said Ricker-Gilbert.

The reverse arch of the new primary logo is a subtle nod to the achievements of teams past, specifically the 1970 men's basketball team that appeared in the NCAA Title game, according to the university.

The team was led by future Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore, one of only five college basketball players in history to average at least 20 points and 20 rebounds over his entire collegiate career, according to JU.  

Gilmore led the NCAA in rebounding in his two seasons at Jacksonville, and his career average of 22.7 rebounds per game is still the highest in NCAA Division I history, the university said.

The campus is also expanding with plans in the works for anew welcome center and anacademic health center, anong other enhancements and renovations.

Jacksonville University is also working on moving its film school to downtown at the WJCT studios.

The Downtown Investment Authority approved a $100,000, interest-free loan in March for JU’s film school to move to WJCT’s downtown studios. The loan would be in addition to JU’s own $100,000 investment and go to renovate portions of the television studio and enroll 60 Chinese students from the Beijing Film Academy by the fall of 2019.

The university has also announced a minority master’s fellowship and $125 million in bonds for its bigger projects.

Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.

Bill joined WJCT News in September of 2017 from The Florida Times-Union, where he served in a variety of multimedia journalism positions.