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| Change is coming soon to the Prince Rupert campus of NWCC, as the college makes plans to retire the use of its Thunderbird logo |
The long familiar NWCC Thunderbird logo is soon to be one that is going, going, gone.
Citing the new focus on cultural appropriation, Northwest Community College is making plans to phase out the use of the Thunderbird symbol a fixture on Northwest campus locations since 1969 and an image found on everything from signage across the region, to the myriad of forms that students fill out every academic year.
The history of the Thunderbird dates back almost fifty years, developed when the post secondary institution was still known as the BC Vocational School - Terrace.
Created through an initiative of the Student's Union, the credit for the final design was directed to the then Director of the Kootenay School of Art and was commissioned as the Terrace institutions crest.
The concept of the design was one of "Giving wings to learning"
The phase out is set to come over the course of the coming months,
NWCC President and CEO, Ken Burt observed as to some of the considerations the college gave to their plan to phase out the logo.
“When we learned the history of the symbol we knew we should phase out its use,” ... “When examined through the lens of cultural appropriation, we felt it was incumbent on us as a post-secondary school to acknowledge this history and move forward.”
The decision to put the logo into the history books is one which has been accepted as a positive step by the NWCC First Nations Council with Chair Barb McRae outlining their view on the move:
“Change is good,” says Barb McRae, Chair of NWCC’s First Nations Council. “Knowing this history, we agree that it is right to discontinue the use of the Thunderbird.”
NWCC is aware that making a change to something that has a fifty year history may stir some memories, not to mention generate comments from those that have been associated with the college over that half century.
And with that in mind, NWCC is welcoming any feedback that those in the Northwest may have to share about the design and long time symbol of the college.
You can address your comments to Sarah Zimmerman the Director of Communications and Public Relations, she can be reached at szimmerman@nwcc.bc.ca or by phone at 250-638-5494
The shift away from the Thunderbird comes as Northwest Community College continues on with its re-branding plans, most recently the college had embarked on a review of potential new names for the Northwest institution and its various Northwest campus locations.
April -- Northwest Community College narrows its name change list to four
February -- Northwest Community College has expansion plans and maybe a name change on the horizon for the region
No decision as to what new name the college will be re-branded as has been announced by NWCC officials on that initiative as of yet.
You can review the full background from NWCC on the Thunderbird phase out here.
For more items related to post secondary education in the Northwest see our archive page here.
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