As Councilors enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner in their last meeting before the break, the Graduate Student Council (GSC) discussed the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) and Stanford Student Enterprises’ (SSE) rebranding project and the most recent food pantry pop-up. 

ASSU Financial Manager LoMo Phillips ’17 and ASSU Director of Communications Cricket Bidleman ’21 presented five options for new ASSU and SSE logos, one of several reforms as the groups pursue their official rebranding. Announced last year, the project seeks to unify the two organizations under fundamental values, the content of which remains under discussion. 

The Council spent 40 minutes of the 80-minute meeting debating the merits of the various logos, ranging from the relevance of the color scheme to the extent to which they seemed related to official Stanford branding. Phillips noted that the logos currently in place were designed and implemented 20 years ago. 

Councilors emphasized their appreciation for the logos that were slightly divergent from such branding, feeling that these better demonstrated the ASSU’s role as a distinct entity from Stanford. 

Higher education doctoral student David Song set off a particularly passionate conversation about the first logo, which prominently featured “The Claw” fountain.

“It looks gnarly, in a sci-fi kind of way,” he said. “But what is it again?”

While Councilors were amused by his lack of recognition of the iconic statue, second year law student Christopher Middleton questioned the use of blue in the image, citing its similarity to Cal. 

“It’s also Big Game week, though, so maybe it’s priming,” he acquiesced. 

With none of the logos in their final iteration, Phillips and Bidleman hoped to garner feedback, with the intent that the logos will be finalized by the beginning of winter quarter. The groups plan to engage in rebranding launch events halfway through the quarter.  

In the weekly Residential and Dining Enterprises update, Executive Director of Stanford Dining Eric Montell briefed the Council on Wednesday’s food bank pop-up. He noted that 157 households were served throughout the event, with each household able to receive up to 150 pounds of food. The next pop-up will be hosted on Dec. 3.