ISU Convinces School District to Ditch Cardinal Logo

A central Illinois high school has agreed to phase out its cardinal logo after Illinois State University complained that it looked too much like ISU's Reggie Redbird mascot.

ISU's Director of Licensing Jerry Abner said the university has an obligation to protect its intellectual property, saying the Sangamon County school district needs to start scrubbing its website and printed materials of the logo right away.

Pleasant Plains Superintendent Maureen Talbert said that the school district will stop using the logo.

"They have a redbird mascot and apparently our redbird on our equipment and shirts and things is very similar," Talbert said. "They're very kind in understanding we'll work with them to make sure future products or things we sell won't have the same redbird image."

Talbert added that the district did not intentionally copy the image, and at least one parent, Laura Salvacion, in the Pleasant Plains district said the university is being too heavy handed.

"We're a little school," Salvacion said. "We send a lot of kids up there to college. You would think they'd just get a clue."

According to a letter sent to the school, ISU will allow current uses of the mascot image to continue on equipment and clothing until they are due for replacement.