June 10, 2010
Photo by Bob Elbert.
Cy struts his college pride
by Erin Rosacker
Go pink for a cause
DeLashmutt said the bookstore has signed an agreement with Susan G. Komen for the CureB.. Two dollars from every purchase of a special pink Iowa State shirt is going back to the foundation, which funds breast cancer awareness and research. The shirt was designed by ISU senior Emi Wubben. It features a large ribbon design with "Iowa State" lettering on the front, and the slogan "CyclONE Family; CyclONE by CyclONE Making a Difference" on the back.
Maybe you've seen him in a Santa suit, or brandishing a shillelagh. Now you can see Cy strutting his stuff on college-specific T-shirts.
The University Book Store sold a line of holiday T-shirts for St. Patrick's Day and Christmas, featuring the vintage walking Cy logo tweaked for the season. On the heels of those popular shirts, a new line of college T-shirts evolved.
"We wondered what else we could do with [Cy]," said UBS event coordinator Shandra Van Berkum. "Trademark lets us do what we want with him, within reason. It's the most fun we can have with the mark."
Van Berkum's idea was to use Cy to fulfill requests for college shirts, and one of their apparel vendors -- Jones & Mitchell Sportswear of Overland Park, Kan. -- agreed. The idea went to the Jones & Mitchell art department, and resulted in designs for all eight ISU colleges.
The shirts feature the college name on the back and illustrations that represent each college on the front. Van Berkum said Liberal Arts and Sciences and Human Sciences were the biggest challenges because of the variety and number of majors each college offers.
"I'm sure there's probably some majors missing, but we tried to get the most that we could," Van Berkum said.
Launched in April for the Veishea celebration, the short-sleeve, white T-shirts will be part of the 2010-11 merchandise catalog for $17.99. They are exclusive to the UBS, sold only in the store and online.
Nearly a thousand shirts have been sold, with Engineering and Agriculture and Life Sciences the top sellers. UBS marketing manager Amy DeLashmutt said this line of college shirts has a "perfect combination" of what people connect with at ISU -- their major and Cy.
"As soon as the shirts were set out, they were selling immediately," DeLashmutt said. "People are very loyal, not only to their alma mater, but also to their college."
