April 19, 2007
Orlando, Fla. (www.UCFAthletics.com) - The following story is part one in a series of eight short features detailing the history, legacy and folklore behind the making of the Florida Technological University (FTU) and University of Central Florida (UCF) name, logo and mascot. Accompanying each story on-line at UCFAthletics.com is a corresponding photo gallery displaying historical images from each era of UCF Knights athletics.
Before the "Citronaut" graced the first student handbooks in 1969; prior to the time when the Student Government Association and school paper, the FuTUre, proposed "Vincent the Vulture" in 1970; way before "Puff" the Dragon and "Mack the Knight" set the stage for "Knightro"; and ahead of the day when the cast of the Medieval Times dinner theater performed a series of scenes during the football pre-game...there was the official Florida Technological University seal that represented the state's newest university established in rural East Orlando in October 1968.
The story behind the creation of FTU's institutional seal started in 1966 when a local citizen, Winter Park's Major Forrest Shoup, sent a letter to Florida Governor Haydon Burns asking to take into consideration some thoughts he had as to the design of the school's seal. After the two traded their thoughts, the Board of Regents business manager, Philip Goree, was asked to respond by sending letters to all of the public and private state universities asking for sample copies of their institutional seals.
Founding President Charles Millican's newly-formed executive staff assembled the lists of designs and color combinations, attended university seal conferences and consulted with various artists before compiling a final designer's criteria list.
Nearly two years passed when the seal of FTU finally made its public debut on April 5, 1968. The final seal was made up of the Pegasus, designed to "bridge the gap between the humanities and space technology" and was chosen as a symbol of the university's goal of moving forward and making a "rendezvous with space and the stars".
It seemed natural that the development of the school's name, seal and motto, "Reach for the Stars", was greatly influenced by its close proximity to the burgeoning space program at nearby Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
Just as significant, the school colors - black and gold - were also as chosen, by school president Dr. Charles Millican, at the same time as seal.
By the time the first FTU students began intramural play during the 1968-69 school year, no dedicated symbol existed for Dr. Frank Rohter's fledgling athletics program, just the university's seal and the "FTU" or "Florida Tech" marks.
It was only three days after the university officially began classes that the school's associate and special collections librarian, Nortbert St. Clair, brought a group of students to a field behind the library to play soccer. St. Clair, later regarded as the "Father of Knights Soccer", observed that the initial run of FTU athletics was reminiscent of "kids on a playground".
The following year, 1969-70, Rohter added men's basketball, baseball, wrestling and tennis club programs to join St. Clair's start-up soccer team. Rohter also brought in Torchy Clark to coach basketball, Gerry Gergley to coach wrestling, Lex Wood to manage men's tennis and Jack Pantelias to run baseball.
Fall 1969 started similarly to the previous semester, from the standpoint of having no nickname or logo for the athletics program. It would end much differently with the student body and administration adopting a new name and logo for its infant athletics department in spring 1970.
Did you know: The very first FTU Baseball club team in 1969 was known as the "Gold Sox"?