Suggestions sought for new class ring design
March 27, 2003
KALAMAZOO -- The WMU Alumni Association has launched an initiative to establish a new tradition as Western Michigan University begins its second century--a single WMU ring. Students, faculty, staff and alumni are invited to submit their ideas for strong school symbols that can be incorporated in the new ring, which will be available this coming fall.
"The goal of a single-ring program is to create a symbol or group of symbols, second only to the diploma, that will immediately identify individuals as graduates of Western Michigan University," says Erin Spaulding, assistant director of alumni relations. "A committee will use the submitted ideas to help determine the ring's design."
Single-ring programs, where all students and alumni wear a ring with the same design, are not new. Spaulding notes that many colleges and universities have had successful single-ring programs for decades. Other schools, including WMU, have never had such a program or abandoned it in the 1970s.
"Multiple ring designs offered by multiple vendors take the tradition out of class rings and make them simply pieces of customized jewelry," Spaulding says. "With the purchase of an official ring, graduates will be investing in a lifelong tradition with their classmates as well as those who came before them. The ring will reflect more than a graduate's individuality-it will symbolize WMU."
Symbol ideas may be submitted online at <www.wmich.edu/alumni> or by writing to <alumni@wmich.edu>.
Media contact: Jeanne Baron, 269 387-8400, jeanne.baron@wmich.edu