UWF’s founding president chose the nautilus as the university seal after being inspired by Oliver Wendell Holmes’ poem The Chambered Nautilus. For more than 50 years, the nautilus has stood as a beloved symbol of excellence, growth, and identity for the University of West Florida.

Now, the university’s current president, someone who had no prior ties to UWF or the surrounding community before his appointment, is pushing to erase this longstanding tradition in favor of his own rebranding effort. The nautilus shell is being removed from locations across campus, forcing departments and units to spend significant amounts of money replacing materials simply to conform to his own new vision.

What makes this even more frustrating is that UWF recently spent months gathering campus input and nearly $2.5 million redesigning the university’s main entrance, only to now consider spending even more money to remove the nautilus — this time without meaningful input from students, faculty, staff, or alumni. UWF students were heavily involved with the planning of the new entrance way, STUDENTS wanted the design and student fees paid for the project. To come back right after student fees were used to create what students wanted and remove it is absurd. 

The nautilus is not just a logo; it is part of UWF’s history and identity. Disregarding that legacy while spending excessive amounts of money on unnecessary symbol removal is deeply disappointing, and offensive. We need our president to respect long UWF traditions and to spend money more wisely.