By Rashid AI Remeithi
ABU DHABI — Having a logo that represents one’s university has spread around the world as a way of promoting an institution of higher learning, especially in America. Universities there have nicknames and mascots that serve as brand names. Most of the time, these logos are associated with athletics teams — such as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Texas Longhorns or UCLA Bruins.
Now Zayed University is following the American university model and will have its own logo in the near future.
Charif Rabah, the sports and activities coordinator at the Abu Dhabi campus, is responsible for helping develop the logo for ZU. He said that the new logo will be released during ZU’s National Day celebration in late November.
Bedside Mr. Rabah, working on the new sports logo are two College of Communication and Media Sciences professors, Sasha Ritter and Inka Stever. Mr. Ritter teaches a campaigns class and Ms. Stever teaches public relations and PR writing. The three are making the decisions about the logo and its nickname.
While an outside firm will design the logo, Mr. Rabah said College of Arts and Creative Enterprises students will support the effort. He also said that the CCMS professors and their students will handle the PR and marketing campaign this fall.
Mr. Rabah and the two professors have invited ZU President H.E. Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid AI Qasimi to attend the logo release event during ZU’s National Day celebration.
The sports director recently told a class of ZU communication students that the new mascot will be a horse and its rider. The sports nickname for ZU teams will become the Riders.
Mr. Rabah said research was done into possible nicknames. One obvious choice was the falcon. However, he said, the falcon is not indigenous to the country.
“They are important to the country, but they have been brought in from abroad,” he said.
Horses, on the other hand, have been around for a long time and are critical to the history of several of the nation’s tribal families.
The nickname took a time to determine because Mr. Rabah said the university wanted to be sensitive to its history and culture.
“We wanted something cultural and historically fitting,” Mr. Rabah said. “The horse is a great animal, and the Arabian horse is known for endurance racing and its great beauty. The horse also has a central place in the nation’s military history.”
The name Rider was chosen because it represents Emirati culture, and at the same time it could be for both genders, he said.
“After a big study about the nickname, we decided to make it related the UAE culture because the country respects it own history,” Mr. Rabah said.
There will be a presentation of the logo on Nov. 28, which is the scheduled National Day celebration this year for the university. Mr. Rabah hopes to have the logo ceremony near the flagpole in the university courtyard.
“We will promote the logo printed on cloth material, and we are planning that
“Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna will wear a scarf or some other appropriate apparel with the logo on it,” Mr. Rabah said.
The university hopes students will wear the clothing logo on apparel outside ZU on a daily basis. Mr. Rabah, who studied for his master’s degree in kinesiology in California, said that the logo gives the university an identity and it gives the student a spread of belong to ZU.
“When you see the logo on the clothes of a young person, you will associate that person with Zayed University,” he said. “It will spread the good word about our university and what it means to the nation’s youth.”
This story was originally published on Oct. 1, 2016. It was re-uploaded on Dec. 31, 2020.
