Eric Langborgh

     Controversy often surrounds a team when it changes logos, but when the University of Hawaii changed theirs last month they drew the ire of political correctness. The Rainbow Warriors have dropped the rainbow from their logo, much to the consternation of the gay community, which has brought allegations of "homophobia" against the university and called for enrollment in reeducation classes.

     Syndicated sports columnist David Teel called UH "an institution that should embrace diversity." "Instead, in a fit of paranoia," wrote Teel in an opinion piece, "homophobes on campus are eliminating the rainbow because to some it symbolizes gay pride and unity."

     The dispute erupted following remarks made by UH Athletic Director Hugh Yoshida during the new logo’s unveiling. "That [rainbow] logo really put a stigma on our program at times," Yoshida noted, "in regards to it’s part of the gay community, their flags and so forth."

     "A statement like that I can understand coming from student athletes," asserted Ken Miller of the off-campus Gay and Lesbian Community Center (GLCC), "but to come from the athletic director, I am surprised and disappointed."

     In response to allegations that his statement was prompted by homophobia, Yoshida contended that his comments were taken out of context. As he had pointed out at the time those comments were spoken, other groups also created confusion with the use of the rainbow in their emblems—at least from a marketing standpoint—including Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition and NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon’s Rainbow Warrior racing team. Still, the school felt compelled to issue an apology "to anyone who was offended," saying that it was not their intent.

     David Franklin, the editor of Outlook, a quarterly publication of the local gay and lesbian community, contends that discrimination was indeed Yoshida’s and other school officials’ intent. "The first thing out of their mouth was how when they go to California the kids are always being teased about the rainbow," Franklin alleged, "because in California the kids there know what [the rainbow] means."

     Campus Report has since learned that Yoshida and others from the university have met with a campus task force on sexual orientation and with the GLCC. In addition, UH has "agreed on further meetings to discuss ‘sensitivity training,’" said campus spokesman Jim Manke.

     "We worked to continue to put the resources together to make sure that these kinds of things don’t happen on campus," stated Franklin, "and to expand all their currently in-place non-discriminatory policies." Franklin explained to Campus Report that those "things" referred to "any kind of sexual orientation discrimination."

     The steps to be taken by the university to ensure this "non-discrimination" are as follows:

          · continue discussion on how to expand "training opportunities on civil rights and diversity," such as those offered by the GLCC and other student services pilot programs;

          · conduct "an assessment of campus climate diversity issues among the student athletes";

         · and, implement plans that will be recommended in the future "to make campuses safe and welcoming for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered students and employees."

     According to Miller, "This is a good beginning."

Dollars and Identity, Not Fear
     Despite much speculation that the rainbow insignia on team uniforms was hindering recruitment efforts, especially for coach June Jones’ football team, campus officials and the creator of the new logo assert that marketing goals and the desire to find a consistent, unifying look to UH’s sports programs were the main concerns in designing the new logo.

     Manke confessed that recruitment of student athletes was "probably one element in marketing strategy," but divulged that there were "no studies I’m aware of" that explored that issue. Instead, the school’s rainbow logo "had caused confusion" for marketing for the reasons stated above.

     In fact, other educational institutions have gone much further than UH to avoid this confusion of association—even so far as to change the school name. Dyke College in Cleveland, Ohio changed its name in 1995 to avoid its embarrassing association with the slang term for lesbian. Beaver College in Pennsylvania, fed up with the derogatory comments hurled its way due to their name’s association with the rodent and the vulgar term for a female body part, has begun the process of changing its name. Beaver College officials noted that the ridicule cut into their bottom line; thirty percent of prospective students polled said they wouldn’t consider attending the school, and Internet filters have been found to block out Beaver College’s website and emails, due to its name. Marketing confusion has also prompted schools like the University of Rio Grande (in Ohio) and Belleville Area College—students joked that the acronym stood for Bring All Crayons—to change their names, as well.

     The predominant reason stated by UH officials for changing its logo is to eliminate the oft-used rainbow in favor of an emblem unique to UH. "The university represents the entire state," logo designer Kurt Osaki told Campus Report. "Cal does not put a bear on their logo; they use a ‘C.’"

     Osaki and his firm, Osaki Design, have made a huge splash in the sports world by designing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ and Baltimore Ravens’ uniform logos, among others. The UH alum came up with a catchy Polynesian-style "H" as the new logo for his alma mater.

     This new logo will adorn the uniforms of all UH sports teams, as well as those teams’ stadiums and arenas, unlike the previous chaos that marked UH sports identity. "Teams were doing their own thing," each with its own uniform and logo, explained Osaki. "There was no real guide which said ‘this is the university color; this is the university logo.’"

     These explanations don’t sit well with gay activists, though, who claim that the university is attempting to foster "a new heterosexual image," as Teel characterized it. However, as school officials point out, the use of the rainbow itself in the logo is relatively new in UH history, first appearing in the 1980s after being present in name only since 1923. The change in name to "Rainbow Warriors" from simply "Rainbows" in 1974 was made not to put forth a heterosexual image, per se, but to combat the school’s apparent pro-homosexual image, as pointed out in a mid-1960s student newspaper editorial.

     Franklin conceded as much in saying, "If you come from another state and you see a rainbow you think it’s a gay organization."

     "When you change logos there is always a certain amount of resistance to change," Manke explained to Campus Report. "This has only intensified due to the side-issue with the gay community."

     "We’re just trying to get a new image out there," Yoshida said in defending the new logo. Nevertheless, this new image displaces an old image that gay activists had sought to preserve. Apparently, these activists’ suggested penalty for that transgression is "sensitivity training." Their opponents maintain that the corresponding cost of implementing that penalty is a loss of freedom of thought and discourse: the very essence of university education.