USF flags will help brand campus

When Student Government (SG) president Juan Soltero and vice president Bruno Portigliatti visited the University of Central Florida, they saw nothing but one thing surrounding the campus: flags.

That birthed the idea for the “Branding Bulls Campaign” – which would place flags leading up to USF’s entrance – they hoped to implement once they took office.

“You feel like you’re in the (UCF) area and everybody is all pumped about it. You come into USF … it’s a very different town and environment,” Soltero said. “I figured, ‘Why don’t we create a branding campaign to help promote that, so people will know that when they are near USF they don’t just run into it; you start feeling it way before you get to the campus.”

The project has gained support from USF president Judy Genshaft and other university officials.

USF spokesperson Michael Hoad said in an e-mail that the project has gained university support.

A similar campaign was launched several years ago to install USF flags throughout campus streets, Hoad said. But this new campaign aims to have flags border Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, Fowler Avenue, Fletcher Avenue and 50th Street.

“It would be a good thing to have a sense of ‘welcome’ to the campus. Flags leading up to the entrance are one way to do that,” he said. “I’ll work to get at least the project done for the main entrance, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

SG Director of University and Community Affairs Andrew Cohen met with Tampa officials Wednesday to discuss how the project could be implemented.

Under the City of Tampa Code of Ordinances, “One temporary on-site banner or pennant may be displayed for a period not to exceed 30 consecutive calendar days, nor more than 60 days in a single year.”

Cohen said the University is working with city officials to create a new ordinance.

“We will wait until it is legal to put them up,” he said. “We are just meeting with individual members of City Council to discuss with them any questions or concerns they may have, so hopefully over summer (it will be resolved).”

Cohen said he is working with university officials to come up with a design and budget for the flags.