UB Athletics Logo Change Part of University Rebranding Effort

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo unveiled its new athletic logo Tuesday.

The bull's head with the word Buffalo shown prominently replaces a three-year-old strategy that featured New York strongly.

"Buffalonians are very prideful of their city, where they live and of their university, and this is a way that we can express that," said UB Athletic Director Allen Greene.

Tom Dinki is the Editor and Chief of UB's student newspaper, The Spectrum. He says not featuring Buffalo on jerseys alienated a lot of the fan base, and furthermore, left opponents guessing about what to call them. 

"When we occasionally do go on road trips, it's definitely kind of confusion for the other team what exactly to call Buffalo. They don't know whether or not it's UB, whether or not it's New York," Dinki said.

The logo change is part of a university-wide rebranding that was a year in the making.

"Several different research surveys we fielded to really get a sense of what the perceptions were at the university, how people defined the university, the awareness of the university, their experiences here," said UB VP of Communications Nancy Paton.

That research led to a new university storytelling platform called "here is how," with a goal of showcasing UB as an extraordinary university that has a unique way of getting things done.

"I previewed the strategy to a few notable alums, they said really that was my experience here at the university. Buffalo is a fantastic place that offered me opportunities that now in my career, I could have never achieved anywhere else, so they were excited because it resonated with them," Paton said.

For athletics, you'll see changes right away with new jerseys immediately for the basketball and football programs.

Other changes will be more gradual, but university officials says for the first time, everything will be interconnected.

"From an identity standpoint, we will all under one University at Buffalo identity umbrella, which means we will be able to tell our story in a very consistent and cohesive manner," Paton said.