UWG News

UWG adopts "Wolves" as new mascot

January 12, 2006

CARROLLTON, GA - The athletic teams at the University of West Georgia will be known as the West Georgia Wolves beginning this fall, Athletic Director Ed Murphy announced today at a press conference.

“West Georgia Athletics is moving into an entirely new era and as we go down the road toward the future of our athletics program, this move is part of it,” Murphy said. “The timing is right for this change and our student-athletes are particularly excited about representing the University community as the West Georgia Wolves!”

Murphy pointed out that the selection process was open, well organized and fair.

Following an eight-month process lead by a 12-member Athletics Marketing Identity Task Force, input into the new mascot was sought through a variety of methods such as online polls, focus groups and open forums including students, alumni, athletic fans, faculty, staff and community members.

“We sought advice and opinions from every part of the West Georgia family and those views were respectfully considered,” Murphy noted. “Although the poll results were just one factor in the process, the polls rated Wolves among the top three choices overall.”

The Task Force recommended three possible names — Wolves, Patriots and RedHawks — to the President’s Advisory Council and UWG President Beheruz N. Sethna accepted their recommendation of the Wolves.

“I congratulate and thank the committees on their great work and choice,” Sethna said.

“There are many outstanding aspects of the Wolves: the alliteration, the fact that many of our students like the name, the fact that only four colleges or universities (none in this area) use the Wolves, and the opportunities for use in other aspects of campus life.

“Perhaps the one that appeals to me most is that I have this vision of 10,000 fans in our new stadium or arena letting out a huge howl every time there is a touchdown or a three-pointer or a game win. The audio cheer in which all the audience can cheer (howl) simultaneously has great -— and practically unique — potential for building school spirit,” he concluded.

According to Dr. Tara Singer, chair of the Task Force, the group considered numerous dimensions such as “cheer-ability,” uniqueness (extent of use by other schools), compatibility with school colors, appropriateness of use for men’s and women’s teams, etc.

The mascot “Wolves” is not used by any member institution of the Gulf South Conference, the conference in which UWG currently plays, nor by any area high school teams. In fact, only four college teams in the country use this nickname.

“The Wolves gained more and more support, it seemed to have legs. In fact, it has four of them,” Singer said.

“There are many positive characteristics of the animal itself such as power, dignity, speed, aggressiveness and agility that reflect well on an athletics program,” Singer added. “The red wolf has been reintroduced to Georgia in recent years so there is yet another positive aspect of the name.”

The Task Force will continue to work with the design and consulting team from Rickabaugh Graphics to develop at least five potential images for the new name and athletics word-marks. The company will also assist in the development of the design for the sideline mascot. Another series of open forums and focus groups will be conducted to assess opinions on these designs.

“The visual opportunities for images include paw prints and the wolf head in addition to a full-body presentation,” Singer explained. “We will have many more conversations on how we will apply the name on campus. For instance, the tour guides could be called ‘Where Wolves’ and ‘Howl on Wheels’ could be the name for the shuttle system.”

Murphy noted that the athletic teams will remain the “Braves” through the end of this academic year and the new name will be implemented at the beginning of Fall Semester 2006. The cost of implementation will be negligible, said Murphy, because the “Braves” name has been slowly phased out, and new uniforms and equipment will be replaced on an existing cycle.

Visit the photo gallery for more press conference photos: http://www.westga.edu/~ucm/special/mascot_gallery/

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