President’s cabinet OKs weight room mural

Photo by Josiah Garber

Sophomore Adrienne Patterson has been approved to finish her lion mural on the weight room wall.

The artistic debate in the EMU weight room has been decided, and patrons of the weight room will likely be happy with the outcome.

The President's Cabinet decided in a recent meeting to allow sophomore Adrienne Patterson to finish her painting of a roaring lion on the weight room wall. However, to make sure the mural cannot be confused with the official EMU mascot, the words "EMU Royals" will be removed from Patterson's work.

Work on the lion was stopped a few months ago because it had not been officially approved. In a letter to Patterson, Kenneth L. Nafziger, the vice president for Student Life, wrote, "We simply want all projects in the University Commons to go through the proper process for approval." When the mural was commissioned, the University Commons Council, which decides what goes up in the University Commons, was not meeting.

Patterson's design was first presented to the University Commons Council, which recommended allowing Patterson to finish. The council's recommendation was then presented to the President's Cabinet which approved finishing the mural with the stipulation to distinguish the mural from the official EMU mascot.

In the same letter to Patterson, Nafziger explained that it is "important to avoid confusing the weight room lion with the EMU Lion mascot symbol." The current mascot is used only by EMU athletics and Loyal Royals, the EMU athletic boosters.

Nafziger later explained in an interview that the Integrated Marketing Council is currently working on creating a more clearly defined symbol. Once their work is completed, the EMU mascot will likely see more widespread use. Nafziger hopes that confusion like that surrounding the weight room mural will be avoided by the new symbol.

Many weight room patrons were angered when progress was halted on the mural. A petition circulated among weight room patrons to urge acting president Beryl Brubaker to allow the mural to be finished. When asked what she thought of the petition, which contained over 400 signatures, Patterson said, "I think it helped."

Even though work will now continue, some students are bothered by the university's slow actions. Freshman Matt Engel, who frequents the weight room, believes "too much fuss has been made about this. All this effort could be put into other parts of campus that need attention."

Patterson is unsure when she will have the time to complete the mural but hopes to finish it soon.