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���ӽ紫ý unveiled a completely redesigned logo as the capstone of its three-year-long comprehensive rebrand. The new look, which will include a single logo for the university and its athletics program, asserts ���ӽ紫ý’s emerging identity as a national top 50 public university and Virginia’s top-ranked university for innovation and upward mobility, as well as the commonwealth’s largest, most innovative, and most diverse university.

The ongoing rebrand signals ���ӽ紫ý’s convention-defying rise to become a leading national public research university by expanding access to excellence through an unwavering commitment to inclusive innovation. The rebrand rollout began in 2021, with preparations to mark 50 years of ���ӽ紫ý as a university in 2022 with updated brand narrative that proclaims the university’s distinct approach to education as All Together Different. The logo system now matches this brand language.

“Higher education in America is at an inflection point, with families having a harder time finding a top-quality, affordable college education at a university that will actually admit them,” said George . “���ӽ紫ý has always offered these things, but few families know of this value because our brand and message have not been adequately heard. This new look is our reintroduction to the community, and a symbol of our commitment to the fundamentals: outstanding and rigorous academics, pragmatic career preparation and internships, flexibility and value, and an atmosphere of belonging for everyone.”

���ӽ紫ý has grown from a small regional college in the 1970s into the youngest institution ever to earn Carnegie Tier 1 research university status, as well as Virginia’s top-ranked university for such high-demand and varied disciplines as cybersecurity, business entrepreneurship, homeland security, criminology, and forensic sciences. It also established Virginia’s first in 2021 and its first in 2023.

“Our new brand crystallizes our identity as a great equalizer—a university committed to inclusive acceptance over exclusive status, and the promise of broad access to a top 50 university experience,” Washington said. “We take great pride in opening our doors wider the higher we climb in prestige. That’s what we mean by All Together Different.”

“���ӽ紫ý has always boxed above its weight in Northern Virginia and D.C., and it needs an identity system to compete in the most competitive higher education market in the nation,” said Horace Blackman, rector of ���ӽ紫ý’s Board of Visitors. “This identity system brings ���ӽ紫ý shoulder-to-shoulder with leading brands in higher education.”

The new look also fixes several operational challenges with the existing logo system, and visuals that were difficult to maintain consistently across the university’s complex academic environment. All university units will now use a single, streamlined logo system.

“I am thrilled that ���ӽ紫ý Athletics will lead the charge to a unified look that reflects the modern character of this great university,” said Marvin Lewis, assistant vice president and director of Intercollegiate Athletics. “���ӽ紫ý Athletics develops true scholar-athletes and serves as the front porch of the university, so it’s important to promote one consistent identity to unify our community.”

Input gathered from faculty and staff, students, parents, alumni, donors, and community leaders confirmed that ���ӽ紫ý is “All Together Different,” and in need of a new logo system to unify the community. The new look features clean lines and open ends, symbolizing multiple entry points and pathways to success. An interior gold shape hugged by green on both sides depicts the university's signature diversity and inclusivity. The clean lines represent the university’s efficiency and pragmatism.

The familiar green and gold color palette remains, paying homage to the university’s origins, as those school colors were voted on by students in the late 1960s. However, bolder shades will be adopted to signify its confidence as a rising national leader.

The “GM” monogram distinguishes the university as the world's only university to use those initials in its logo and recognizes that the broader community commonly refers to the university as “���ӽ紫ý,” not just “Mason” and no longer “GMU.”

“This is a new look for a new era with new expectations of American higher education,” said Paul Allvin, vice president and chief brand officer at ���ӽ紫ý. “The rebrand reintroduces Mason as elite yet never elitist, prestigious yet eminently accessible, confident in blazing a fundamentally new path for public higher education in the 21st century and beyond.”

The change to the new look is planned to happen over time and is being accomplished without additional university spending. Over the next two years, assets that can be converted at no cost, like digital displays, will be converted first, followed by branded materials that naturally run out periodically and are already budgeted for replacement. Durable assets including external signage will be paid for by reallocation of existing budgets within the Office of University Branding.

Below is an example of how the individual units will look in a new two-tiered logo strategy.