An all-women private liberal arts college in Massachusetts has canceled plans to change its school logo after some students said that a Venus sign in the new design could be perceived as not being inclusive of transgender people.
Student administrators at Mount Holyoke College attempted to introduce a new logo for their school. Designers attempted to add a feminine twist to the project by incorporating the Venus sign as part of the letters “H” and “C” included in the logo.
College administrators shelved the new logo. One alumnus of the college, Tessa Ann Schwarz, had had expressed her frustrations that the new logo appears to imply that no transgender or nonbinary people ever even attended the college. “Speaking as one of those trans alums, you all will not be getting my money until this is changed, and I am not alone,” Schwarz tweeted.
In response to the controversy, university administrators expressed regret for failing to create a new symbol inclusive of the entire university community and pledged to search for a more gender-friendly sign.
“We listened to feedback regarding the use of the Venus symbol as an option for the brand identity and logo, as proposed by the consultants. It is now evident to us that this symbol has a long history of exclusion connected to movements that, while trailblazing for some groups, represents the erasure of others,” said Charles L. Greene II, vice president for communications and marketing at the college. “We have thus determined that the college cannot move forward with a word mark that references this symbol.”
John Patrick (@john_pat_rick) is a graduate of Canisius College and Georgia Southern University. He interned for Red Alert Politics during the summer of 2012 and has continued to contribute regularly.
