As most students are already aware, the seals and symbols of  Saint Ignatius  have a new look.  Rumors of a new logo were confirmed Monday night after students came across the new record boards which replaced the outdated ones in Hall of Fame. The logo, which has a new depiction of the Wildcat in front of the ‘I,’ is pictured on the boards and quickly spread to the students through social media.    The reaction was largely negative, and the change became the talk of the school on Tuesday.

“The idea behind the logo change is to get a unified symbol of who we are,” said Lisa Metro, Director of Communications, when I sat down to talk with her about the recent chatter.

The decision to revise the school’s logos began in 2012, when the school finalized its most recent 5-year Strategic Plan. Part of that plan called for a branding platform that includes a central focus on Ignatian and Catholic identity. The communications department and Fr. Murphy were called upon to establish a unified voice for Saint Ignatius that communicates the school’s unique strengths, and to bring order to the visual identity of the school.  And so, the process began.

The first move was to try and find a full service branding agency that would best suit our needs.  Several agencies responded to a Request for Proposal and Twist Creative, a local firm which is across the street from Wasmer Field, understood the Catholic component of the brand strategy and design, as well as our role in Ohio City. They previously designed identity systems for the Sisters of Charity Health System as well as Ohio City, Inc.    based on the strength of their design work, and their previous involvement with Catholic institutions, they were hired.

Twist Creative came to Saint Ignatius and held “discovery sessions” with teachers, alumni, coaches, and other administrators to try and understand what the Ignatius community is all about. They asked questions to bring out the identity of the school, and they asked the people at these sessions questions like, “what do you like most about Saint Ignatius?” There was much positive feedback and good answers, but one answer was unanimous and resounding: A.M.D.G. Twist Creative took what was discussed in these sessions and formed the logos accordingly.

The new logos were created to be timeless, original, and reflective of our traditions and beliefs. They were discussed between the communications office and Twist Creative.   Ms. Metro and her team decided on the logos with Father Murphy agreeing 100 percent. The changes are being made for the future of the school, and the decided logos are set in stone.

The first of these logos, called the “official logo” or seal (pictured above or linked here for mobile readers), has the Loyola family crest and the wolves with the pot.   While it is quite different, compared to the old logo, it maintains many of the core characteristics. This will be used as the official school logo, and will represent Ignatius as the outside symbol. “Any official school event will have this logo,” Ms. Metro said. This logo should replace everything that the old logo occupied, but these changes will happen gradually over time. It does not make financial sense to remove the new piece of the mall where the old seal is, and replace it with the new one. If you look around, the old seal is everywhere, and it is going to take a long time to make these changes.

The second logo is being called the “Ignatius shield,” or “shield” for short. It has much of the same characteristics as the official logo, and it symbolizes the tradition of the school. This logo will be used as the internal symbol with sports groups such as soccer and extracurricular groups such as the Pallbearers. Both the seal and the shield incorporate the phrase Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam through its acronym, A.M.D.G.

One of the minor logos that will make a huge impact on campus is the new A.M.D.G. logo. It has been uniquely designed to be original to our school, and this logo will appear on many items in the bookstore, as well as sports items.

The change that has sparked the greatest interest–and ire–of many students, is the new Wildcat. After careful consideration, the decision for this logo was made by Ms. Metro and the communications department, with the support of  Father Murphy backed it.  Along with Father’s support, Ms. Metro also said she received good reviews from a few students, faculty members, coaches, and Principal Bradesca. However, the students have been notoriously deriding this logo on social media and in school.

The difference between this new logo and the old Wildcat logo is the wildcat itself. Students who do not like the new logo claim that the icon does resemble a wildcat anymore. Members of the student body have expressed frustration that they had no say in the decision of the new logo, and say they felt that their opinions were not valued. Ms. Metro did not want the picking of the Wildcat logo to be a popularity contest because no matter what logo would be the most popular, there would still be students who would either like or dislike it. Logo selection is about more than just “like” or “dislike.” In picking the logo, Ms. Metro reflected on which wildcat would seem more collegiate and which one would be timeless. In being timeless, the desired wildcat should be popular now and continue to be popular in the future.

For those who are worried that this logo will be taking over all sports teams, do not be afraid. The communications office has had meetings with coaches and the athletic director, and together they will decide which logos they want to use for their team. Each coach has several logos to choose from, as well as the overall design of team’s new uniforms. The changes to the uniforms may not happen all at once, but coaches are eager to get their teams’ new gear. The communications department is not forcing the teams to change their uniforms as soon as possible, and they are also not telling the coaches precisely which symbols they have to use, although they have to pick from the ones that are provided to them.

One of the rumors that spread fast was that the paw print on the football helmets would be replaced by the Wildcat and the ‘I.’ This is not the case. The Communications Department talked to Coach Kyle and Ms. Metro simply stated, “we value him.” Although no coach got precedence over what they wanted for their teams, it was decided that the wildcat paw print would only be used for football. The uniqueness of the situation and the tradition of the team was the reason for this decision. Twist Creative did make minor changes to the paw print, but it is hardly recognizable by the un- trained eye.

The difficultly with anything new is the opposition to change. As the new logos start to replace the old ones, the hardest part will be to adapt. These logos are pretty much set in stone, and the school has spent quite a bit of time and money to create these new designs. Hopefully the decisions made for the choosing of these logos will reflect the tradition, beliefs, and character of the school. These symbols for our school will be important for the future, and will be part of Saint Ignatius for a long time.

What do you think about the new logos? Tweet us @SIHSEye, or comment on this article.

by Cole Brownsberger ’14

Mr. Crew brought a lot of energy and new strategies to the Scholarship Drive this year, and his hard work paid off. The students sold 116% of quota, the top seller, Nicholas Kovesdi, sold 751 tickets, and the top homeroom was Mr. Arko’s 1C, selling 213% of quota.

After Mr. Crew thanked everyone involved with the drive, the rally proceeded into the highly anticipated drawing. Tom Arth ‘99, high school all-American, NFL quarterback, and new head coach of the John Carroll Blue Streaks, drew the tickets this year along with Father Welsh. After a long drum roll, the first place prize of $50,000 was announced, and the winner was Barbara Shanning, with Aidan Martin ’14 selling the winning ticket.

While most students were sulking in their disappointment after not winning, Father Murphy Skyped Principal Bradesca (who was in Chicago) over the speakers so everyone could hear. He said to the principal, “for their hard work, you guys are going to get 2 chicken patties. How does that sound Mr. Bradesca?” Bradesca responded, “Don’t be that guy.” Mr. Bradesca instead announced that there will be no school on March 28, and the students rejoiced.

More facts about the 75^th annual scholarship drive:

Leading Homerooms:

• Freshmen: Mr. Arko’s 1C with 213% of quota
• Sophomores: Mr. Evan’s 2E with 169% of quota
• Juniors: Mr. Peter Corrigan’s 3D with 150%
• Seniors: Mrs. Kyle’s 4P with 131%

Leading Student Sellers:

5. Brock Yoho with 275 tickets
4. Clarence Moore with 300 tickets
3. Nick Guiney with 526 tickets
2. Patrick Brennan with 589 tickets
1. Nicholas Kovesdi with 751 tickets

Winners:

3^rd Place prize of $5,000 awarded to Timmothy Dawn sold by Patrick Berry.

2^nd Place prize of $10,000 awarded to James Olliger sold by Andrew Olliger.

1^st Place prize of $50,000 awarded to Barbara Shanning sold by Aidan Martin.

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone involved!

Listen to John Fanta ’13 interview Tom Arth ’99 after picking the winning ticket:

by Dominic Gideon ’14

On Friday, March 8, while most students were at school or, for Ignatius students, sleeping in during the day off, about 540 students from 23 different schools packed St. Mary’s Chapel to kick off the Breaking Barriers Summit. Bishop Richard Lennon celebrated the Eucharist to begin the event whose purpose was to reveal the social injustice around the world as well as locally and to encourage the teens to go out and be the voice for those suffering. The Gospel of the mass, the parable of the Good Samaritan, went perfectly with the theme of the day: “making the invisible visible.” Bishop Lennon emphasized that connection in his homily in which he lauded the students for their willingness to come and urged them to make a difference in the world with the knowledge and vigor from the summit.

After the bishop set the mood of the event with Communion and his powerful words, the heart of the summit was almost ready to commence.

The students, coming from all diocesan high schools and even two outside of the diocese, were a very eclectic group of teenagers, ranging from all four grades, with much diversity, and coming from many different areas of Greater Cleveland. The one group of people who were the large majority was the female population. There were numerous reasons why these students chose to attend: some came because of projects they had to do relating to one of the discussed topics, some were recommended by their teachers to go, some came for a nice, relaxing day off of school, and many teens like sophomore Ryan Wynne of Lake Catholic just “thought it would be a good opportunity to learn a lot of new things.”

Whatever their gender, school, grade, or motivation  they were all jammed inside the chapel, filling all the roughly 500 seats and then some, as Mr. Pacetti and Mr. Evans (the Ignatius teachers of CSPJ) gave information about the day and handed out everyone’s personal schedule.

Thanks to long and careful planning by the Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice (CSPJ), the event was configured in an effective and orderly manner. The day was made so that the students were “completely immersed in the knowledge which surrounds social justice,” as CSPJ member Caroline Mills ’14 of Saint Joseph Academy puts it.  Each student was assigned four classroom speakers on topics such as immigration, human trafficking, violence in the world, poverty, those with disabilities, or prison life. Even though the classes were only on the second an third floors of the Main Building, National Honor Society members were there to help any student who managed to get discombobulated. There were over 40 speakers from all around the area with a vast range of occupations and backgrounds which all uniquely qualified them to talk to the high schoolers.

In the middle of these sessions was lunch along with an organizational fair, and the keynote speech given by the nationally renowned author and speaker Sr. Helen Prejean. The simple lunch of Capri Sun, soup, bread, and a cookie gave the lunchroom a soup kitchen feel as the students waited in long lines to get modest servings of soup from big white buckets. Nonetheless, students didn’t grumble much, and the experience made them further think of the people the day was focused on: “the invisible.”

After the teens finished up lunch many took the rest of the session to check out stands put up by various organizations which centered around themes of the day, like disabilities, fair trade, and human trafficking. Although not having an abundance of time to look around, students still were able to grab some pamphlets and get on some emailing lists which interest them.

Then came the pinnacle of the day: Sr. Helen Prejean. The sweet yet passionate sister from Louisiana wrote the book Dead Man Walking which has been made into a movie and a play. She has a very busy schedule in which she spends going around the country to give talks to all sorts of people. And there’s a good reason why so many people in America lobby for the little nun from down South to come to speak to them.

“What grace does is it wakes you up!” Sr. Prejean exclaimed in her thick Cajun accent as her voice echoed in the Breen Center. She talked about her ignorance to social justice when she was in high school and tried to make sure that was a problem for the hundreds of students in front of her. Initially one might not think her to be too intellectual, with her Southern twang and her occasional omitting of  an are or is every now and then, but as she spoke on, one could see the true English major in her.

“[Social justice] is a constitutive part of the Gospel of Jesus,” she emphasized, and then came her famous and compelling story. “He asked me if I wanted to be the pen pal with a guy on death row, and I said ‘Sure’!… The problem was he wrote back,” Sr. Prejean said in a humorous growl.

She went on to tell about the relationship she formed with Patrick Sonnier, and everything that lead them into the execution chamber that fateful day which Sr. Prejean said, “changed her life.”

Sonnier and his brother committed a gruesome murder and Sister did not deny that in the least, but she still somehow believed the man should have kept his life. “What makes you heal is love of community, not just watching for 15 years [for the] state to kill somebody. The death penalty revictimizes us,” she said, talking about the often grim and rehashing reminder for the victim’s family as they go through the execution of the culprit.

Then came the climax of the story: “He didn’t want me to see the execution… I said ‘Pat, I don’t know what it’s gonna do to me, but I’m gonna be there for you; and you look at my face, and I’m gonna be the face of Christ for you.'”

Proceeding this tragic story she then urged the crowd to be the light of God in the world. After the speech she explained, “the fire gets lit by the Holy Spirit. We are the kindling.”

For many students, Sr. Helen Prejean was the highlight of the day; but overall, the teens got a lot out of the experience. “We have knowledge and the background of all the issues so that we can actually speak out against [injustice] and make change,” said Melissa Drpac ’14 of Saint Joseph Academy, president of their CSPJ team.

At the end of all the activities, Mr. Evans went back in front of the crowd, this time at the Breen Center, and talked about how the students can move forward from the event and truly make the invisible visible. Many students, like junior Maddie Levand ’14 of Gilmour Academy, felt an inclination to act upon the social injustice they just learned about: “Now that I have a different understanding of it all, I want to reach out more.”

The most a teenager usually will do is contact their legislature and tell them the importance of certain social justice issues, but that is not the limit. Students can join or start clubs, peacefully protest (like at an execution), or just become more educated on topics so as to better fight for them when the time comes.

Below you will find some extras from this story: a short audio clip from Sr. Helen Prejean’s keynote address, and a Storify thread collecting social media posts from the day.