A referendum sponsored by 'Hoo Crew, the athletic department and Student Council's Athletic Affairs Committee to determine the winning student design for the University's 2010 football T-shirt is currently up for vote in the University-wide elections starting today.
A five-person panel narrowed down the 37 entries to the three that appear on the ballot.
"We've selected three finalists from the designs that were submitted and now the student body will decide the winning design from those finalists," said Todd Goodale, associate director of athletics for marketing and video services. "The winning designer will receive a trip for them and a guest to go to Los Angeles to watch the Virginia at the Southern California game on Sept 11."
'Hoo Crew President Timmy McGarry, who worked with members of 'Hoo Crew and the Athletic Affairs Committee to gather the 950 student signatures necessary to get the referendum on the ballot, added that although Nike did have some authority over the T-shirt designs, students still will retain the primary voice in the process.
"The T-shirts are for the students, so it makes the most sense for students to have a say what's on it," McGarry said. "It's a great opportunity for students to get more involved in the process; the student section of the stadium is important."
Goodale noted that the athletic department was inspired by similar programs at other universities.
"There are some other schools that have conducted the designs through the student body, and we thought it'd be a great way to engage the students in the design process," Goodale said.\nCouncil Athletic Affairs Committee Chair Dave Hondula also noted the significance of involving students in goings-on of the University community.
"I think this is a win for student self-governance," Hondula said. "It's certainly a learning experience going through this first year. We definitely have some improvements in mind for future, but students are basically going to determine the shirt design, comprise the majority of the voting panel, and ultimately the student body will determine the shirt for next year."
Hondula added, however, that there is certainly room for improvement for the program going forward.
"We need a little bit of a longer timeline for next year," Hondula said. "Maybe another week or two so students will have more time to submit designs. We exceeded expectations in terms of the number of designs, but we certainly think more people will submit next year."
Moreover, Hondula said the committee is considering a separate selection process for each side of the T-shirt next year.
"Some schools have a independent elections for the front and back of the shirt," Hondula said. "It'd be nice to combine good elements of individual designs to produce a potentially better shirt. We were not equipped to do that this year, given the technology that was involved for the ballot and the way the prizes were set up."
Originally, the referendum was supposed to accommodate five finalists. These three finalists, however, were the clear frontrunners of the group, he said.
"We were looking for a shirt that created an original message or perspective on Virginia football while trying to incorporate some element of tradition or football or common shirt elements like the football schedule on the back," Hondula said. "We were looking for interesting concepts ... as well as have a shirt that was marketable to a wide public audience."
The three finalists - second-year College student Ellen Falci, fourth-year College student Debby Chen and second-year College student Lauren Taylor - were notified of their selections Thursday.
"I've always loved graphics design and I've done work for [University Programs Council] and the Cavalier Marching Band Color Guard so this was right up my alley," Chen said. "I always felt I could've done more to leave an impact at the University and I felt this was a great way to do this so later I can come back and show that I contributed to U.Va football."
Falci, meanwhile, who has designed several T-shirts for various organizations on Grounds - including the Metcalf-Lefevre Association Council, the Monroe Society and Relay for Life - saw the design contest as an opportunity for students who are not majoring in fine arts.
"I do a lot of graphics design and T-shirt work on the side," Falci said. "I'm not an art major, but it's something I started doing in high school when I took computer graphics ... I think it'd be an excellent addition to my design r
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