Copyright Baton Rouge Advocate
The University of New Orleans' transition to the LSU system is underway, and mockup logos shown during a Wednesday committee meeting on the New Orleans campus indicated that UNO emblems may get a new look. The mockup logos, which are considered working drafts, were revealed during a meeting of the UNO transition committee as the university prepares to return to the LSU system. The logos featured the purple and gold colors associated with the LSU system in place of UNO's traditional blue and silver. One mockup logo had "LSU" in gold letters and "New Orleans" in white letters with a purple background. The other mockup was similar to UNO's current athletics logo featuring the Privateers mascot, but the colors included were purple, gold and white. "There were no discussions at the university of anything as far as (the logo)," UNO interim athletic director Vince Granito told The Times-Picayune Thursday after the meeting. "Today was the first element. This might be the new logo, but who knows." Wednesday's transition committee meeting marked the first in a series of scheduled monthly meetings leading up to UNO's transition to the LSU system, which is set to take place on July 1, 2026. UNO remains in the University of Louisiana system for the current academic year. Granito expects UNO athletics to be "business as usual" this year. "The transition team is started, but we have no information yet," Granito said. "We're still in the UL system for this year. There's no direction on next year yet." UNO was part of the LSU system at its founding in 1958 until becoming part of the University of Louisiana system in 2011. A recent budget deficit led to the university's transition back to the LSU system this year. The university was known as LSUNO until 1974 when the University of New Orleans name was adopted. The UNO athletic department took on the Privateers mascot in 1965.
