Newman University, Birmingham launches new brand to mark 50th anniversary
Newman University, Birmingham was founded in 1968 as a teacher training college after there was a need for more teachers in Catholic schools in the region.
Since its opening, Newman has produced many successful teachers throughout the region and further afield and in 2013 gained University title, becoming one of only three Catholic universities in the UK at the time.
Since then Newman’s offer has expanded beyond offering courses for aspiring teachers and the university now has programmes ranging from Business and Management to Criminology to Psychology and much more at a variety of different levels.
To mark its 50th anniversary, Newman has seen its brand, logo, website and intranet system modernised, with the brand and website launched this week and the intranet system soon to follow.
The new brand has started to make its appearance around the campus in Bartley Green and will soon be seen over the city of Birmingham and throughout the region.
Newman gained its coat of arms in 1988, twenty years after its opening, and the new logo draws on elements from the coat of arms within its design, ensuring that Newman’s history is still very prevalent within the new branding.
The coat of arms style logo replaces the former petal logo and includes elements from Newman’s Patron, Blessed John Henry Newman’s own coat of arms; the crosses of St Chad which also symbolise a balanced and rounded education; a flame to represent the torch of learning; and the wolf which commemorates the name of the first recorded owner of the land on which the university is built, a Saxon named Wulfwine. The wolf, with its noble and courageous characteristics, faces forward, differing from the original coat of arms, as it looks into the future, mirroring the university’s forward thinking vision.
Professor J. Scott Davidson, Vice Chancellor of Newman University commented “The new logo speaks to Newman University’s past, its place in the present and its hopes for the future. As a modern, diverse and inclusive institution we want to celebrate where we have come from but continue to emphasise that the light of learning remains at our core and that, like the rampant wolf, we should be noble and courageous in pursuit of this.”
As well as rebranding, the university will be holding a number of events throughout the year to mark its anniversary. The year of celebrations starts with a Foundation Day Mass on 13th February which looks to give thanks for the life of the university’s patron, Blessed John Henry Newman.
As February progresses, Newman will be hosting this year’s Cathedrals Group Choirs Festival which is set to take place on Saturday 24th February. As well as this the university has planned events with its partner schools, a number of inaugural lectures – including a lecture from the university’s Vice Chancellor, an Alumni Reunion in August and a Feast Day in October. The celebrations will be rounded off with a long service awards ceremony for staff in 2019.