Lyndon State College is being forced to abandon the hornet and create a new athletic logo.
It has been confirmed by Lyndon officials that a letter from lawyers representing Georgia Tech was sent asking for the logo to be dropped from use at Lyndon. The Lyndon State Hornet is similar to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket, which is a copyrighted image. Georgia Tech has been using their current Yellow Jacket since the early 1970’s, several decades longer than Lyndon has used the hornet.
Georgia Tech has a very large campus. It is located on 400 acres of land in the heart of Atlanta and houses 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Its sports teams are NCAA Division I and very well known throughout the country.
The letter was sent after an inquiry by The Critic asking Georgia Tech if the logo was copyrighted.
President Carol Moore acknowledged that Lyndon did receive a letter from lawyers requesting a change.
“They are willing to work with us to phase out the logo, so it doesn’t cost a lot of money,” said Moore.
The Georgia Tech website lists the hornet and several other symbols as being “federally registered in the name in the name of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia by and on behalf of the Georgia Institute of Technology.” ‘Buzz,’ their Yellow Jacket is among the images listed on the page that are trademarked.
A Lyndon official said the college thought the hornet was a clip art piece when the logo was adopted by LSC.
The processes of phasing out the logo will be a lengthy and potentially pricey project. The hornet is currently on athletic uniforms, SGA logos, tee shirts, the athletic website, school promotion tools and many other pieces of memorabilia throughout campus.
Moore said the college will be working to change a potential harmful situation into a positive one. She said that this will “open doors” for Lyndon students. Keith Chamberlin, the director of communications and marketing, will begin to work with athletic director Chris Ummer as well as students in designing a new logo for the college. Chamberlin said it will be a challenge but a great opportunity for students.
The logo will have to represent Lyndon and specifically Lyndon athletics.
Two high schools in Vermont also use logos that resemble Lyndon’s and Georgia Tech’s. Milton High School uses an identical logo, and Essex High School uses a very similar logo that is green rather than the traditional black and gold.