WSU Shocker logos over the years

March 14, 2012|By Rebecca White | KWCH 12 Eyewitness News

(WICHITA, Kan.) — Someone with a sharp eye in the Wichita State University bookstore noticed that Eyewitness News Anchor Bruce Haertl was wearing a WSU jacket with an old school logo on the evening newscast last night.

They called Eyewitness News and asked to ship Bruce a sweatshirt with an updated logo. Eyewitness News paid for the package now heading to Portland.

It made us wonder how many different logos has the university had over the years and what was the history behind them?

It turns out that the school has had a number of changes to three separate logos since being founded as Fairmount College in 1895: Seal of the University, the academic logo and WuShock.

The university seal is reserved special or solemn occasions. It features a Kansas landscape with the “lamp of learning”, something chosen by the first president, Nathan J. Morrison, for the University back when it was called Fairmount College.

A lamp was passed from class to class at Commencement ceremonies to demonstrate “the light of learning sweeps away the darkness of ignorance.”

The university or academic logo with the WSU letters “crowned by a stalk of wheat” dates back to over a century ago when students helped harvest and stack shocks of wheat around the campus over the summers.

This logo was designed to show “the bold forward motion of Wichita State.”

The WuShock, or athletic logo, was developed in 1948 by design students. Kappa Pi art fraternity held a competition to create an logo that would reflect the spirit of the school.

A junior named Wilbur Elsea, who was a Marine during World War II, created the shocker mascot, wanting it to give a “tough impression...with a serious, no-nonsense scowl," according to the University.

The WuShock logo was later named by freshman Jack Kersting.

Note: All photos in the above video were provided courtesy of Special Collections and University Archives, Wichita State University Libraries.

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