Wildcats All

Shortly after joining University of Arizona Athletics in 2016, Thomas Harris, now assistant athletics director for diversity, inclusion and employee engagement, developed a project to celebrate cultural heritage months. “We wanted to share special marks or logos on social media and use them throughout the months to honor students, coaches and staff,” he explains. 

The university had a similar project underway, but both projects stalled and so, Thomas says, “I asked if I could just take over the entire effort.” The university jumped on his offer, and a project to create the first official University of Arizona Cultural Logos began.

Harris assembled dedicated focus groups of students, faculty, staff, campus cultural groups and alumni in a collaborative effort spanning two years. The resulting logos began rolling out in fall 2020 to coincide with cultural heritage months, but are meant to celebrate UArizona’s diverse community year round. Merchandise featuring the logos is available through the UArizona BookStores, and royalties benefit the multicultural centers on campus that serve students holding those identities. 

“From the beginning, all the groups recognized that the Block ‘A’ felt too institutional to capture what it means to be a Wildcat with a strong cultural identity,” Harris says. “The Wildcat face really resonated, but still, no one could agree on one single image for each group. Then an idea came up to bring in multiple images. It sounded crazy to me, but Jess knew what to do.” 

Jessica Estrella ’04 is the art director with UArizona’s marketing and communications team. She developed a system for each logo consisting of three distinct parts: cultural icons, the Wildcat brand mark and a title that represents the expression or celebration of each culture. The icons were developed with team input and recognize the importance of cultural nuance.

“The conversations we had went really deep,” Estrella says. “There are stories behind each of the icons.”

“My father was a first-generation college student and the only one in his family to graduate from college,” says Roberta Stout ’04, assistant athletics director of community relations and special events. “He placed a lot of importance on education and was very proud to have his daughters and their cousins also continue their education and graduate from the University of Arizona. Seeing ‘Familia’ incorporated not only represents how important family is to the Hispanic culture but also connects my family to the Wildcat family.”

“One thing we talked about in our groups was the delicate balance between stereotype and representation,” says Harris. “For example, the Hispanic group was very clear that there shouldn’t be sombreros or margaritas. The American Indian group didn’t want to see bows and arrows. The Black students were adamant about representing many skin tones. We went back and forth on each of the logos.”

Students were engaged in the review process and often challenged the thinking behind different elements, pushing for expression that captured their own generational perspective. “The Native students wanted to see ‘Skoden’ — that means ‘Let’s go!’” Harris says. 

UArizona’s heritage dates back to 1885 and is rich in diversity and character. The university is a Hispanic Serving Institution and in 2020 drew a first-year student class in which 48% identify as non-white. 

“The icons within each logo tell the history and story of these different groups,” Thomas says. “Not only will it be a source of pride for students, faculty and staff, but it will build connections with the broader community as people learn the story behind each symbol.”

Read on to see how the workgroups framed statements to capture their unique UArizona heritage. Explore the stories of the icons at licensing.arizona.edu/cultural-logos.