It\u2019s UConn. Not UCONN, U-Conn, or even Yukon. Call us UConn.<\/p>\n
Any frequent visitor to \u201cUConn Twitter\u201d knows that some of these alternative spellings (especially The Washington Post<\/em>\u2019s inexplicable hyphen use) rankle the feathers of the most die-hard UConn fans.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a former English major and current pedant, it drives me crazy to see it written \u2018UCONN,\u2019\u201d says Meghan Bard \u201903 (CLAS), a contributor to the UConn sports blog \u201cA Dime Back.\u201d \u201cIt is not an acronym, it\u2019s an abbreviation of the University of Connecticut, so only the U and C should be capitalized. It looks weird written in all caps, and just shows a lack of care when a publication gets it wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n While it may seem silly to outsiders, writing the University\u2019s nickname properly \u2014 with a capital \u201cU,\u201d a capital \u201cC\u201d, and a lowercase \u201co-n-n\u201d \u2014 matters.<\/p>\n \u201cSpelling UConn the correct way is an integral part of our identity as a public university,\u201d says Tom Breen, UConn\u2019s director of news and editorial communications.<\/p>\n Maintaining the integrity of the UConn brand is crucial to reflecting our excellence in our community and beyond, say the professionals in the Office of University Communications tasked with upholding the brand.<\/p>\n \u201cOur brand guidelines reflect our proud history and strength as a top public research university,\u201d says Christine Ballestrini, assistant director of branding and visual identity. \u201cThe UConn brand reflects the core values of the institution and must be presented in one uniform voice.\u201d<\/p>\n Where did the name \u201cUConn\u201d even come from? <\/strong><\/p>\n To answer that, you need to start at the very beginning. UConn was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, a moniker it would hold until 1899 when it became Connecticut Agricultural College. After a period of growth in the early 20th century, the school was renamed Connecticut State College in 1933 when it began awarding Bachelor of Arts degrees. On May 26, 1939, the Connecticut General Assembly approved a bill changing the name of the institution to the University of Connecticut. According to Breen, it was around this time that the word \u201cUConn\u201d began to be used within the campus community.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the Husky mascot was introduced in the 1930s it was a play on the Canadian Yukon territory near Alaska, due to how cold winters were in Storrs,\u201d Breen says. \u201c\u2018UConn\u2019 as an abbreviation seemed like a natural fit, as the postal code for Connecticut at the time was Conn.\u201d<\/p>\n But wait \u2014 why is our wordmark in all capital letters?<\/strong><\/p>\n A major point of confusion on the proper way to write UConn stems from the official University and UConn athletics wordmarks, both of which feature all capital letters. In 2013 the University officially adopted \u201cUConn\u201d as the primary visual identifier of the institution, as part of a major rebranding effort that occurred in partnership with Nike. At the time, then-President Susan Herbst said, “As an institution, for years we have made use of UConn as institutional nickname of sorts. But while we see it as shorthand, it appears that throughout the nation \u2014 due to our athletic success no doubt \u2014 most everyone refers to the university as UConn.\u201d<\/p>\n The official University logo adopted then is the word \u201cUCONN\u201d in a specially created font called UConn Extended. Eric Rickabaugh is the owner and creative director of Rickabaugh Graphics and is responsible for designing the UConn Extended font. He recalls the thought process that went into the font design while he sketched it out on a flight home from visiting the Storrs campus.<\/p>\n \u201cI was excited with how quickly it came together and how unique yet simple it was,\u201d says Rickabaugh. \u201cThe UConn Huskies uniforms had been featuring a condensed sans serif \u2018UCONN\u2019 for a while. We wanted to maintain that look but with a custom and proprietary design. The new UConn font had a similar feel but with a nice twist of the arched tops and bottoms. It was obviously well-liked because many other schools and teams started to copy it.<\/p>\n \u201cFlattering, but not the kind of flattery that we prefer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n