GRU students react to altered photos - WFXG FOX54 Augusta - Your News One Hour Earlier

UPDATE: Students at the Summerville Campus of Georgia Regents University are shocked that the newly published post-merger brochures had digitally altered photos in the sports section of the pamphlet.

GRU student Amanda Bryant showed FOX54 where the Augusta State logo was missing from player's jerseys and uniforms.

"Taking away the "A" that was put on their jerseys makes it seem like we are not proud of what they have done for the school or where the school started even before consolidation," said Bryant.  

University officials told FOX54 that the brochures were printed for prospective students and they didn't want people to be confused.

However, students believe it could have been handled differently.

"You could have had ASU still on the pictures and you could have simply, in the publication, explained that the university has just gone through a merger," said GRU student Arthur Chapman.

"I mean if you put a foot note on it, is that going to be too much trouble?" said GRU student Cliff Bozeman.  

Even though the merger is complete, the sports team has not officially changed their name.

"The sports team is in the middle of the season and you can't change the name is in the middle of season so our sports team is still playing under Augusta State," said Bryant. And like I said, it was Augusta State when these players played and it needs to be left that way."  

The Vice Provost Roman Cibirka released a statement Thursday evening taking full responsibility of making the decision to change the pictures. He said it turned out to be an error of judgment and was sincerely sorry.

University officials said 5,000 brochures were printed in the first run but the second order has been canceled.

ORIGINAL STORY: Some students, faculty and alumni of Augusta State University are outraged after Georgia Regents University released a new recruiting publication. The outrage stems from pictures in the book of several ASU sports teams with the ASU logo and school name deleted from the photos.

Officials at GRU released a statement in response to the confusion.

Official Comment from GRU:

Dear Colleagues,
 
One of our highest priorities as a university is the recruitment and retention of students. As such, there is a great deal of enrollment management activities focused on reaching prospective students and their parents, as well as high school guidance counselors and other institutional representatives, in Augusta and beyond.
 
We are working to be responsive to these target populations while simultaneously creating a new brand representative of the consolidated Georgia Regents University Augusta.
 
A view book, or brochure, was recently produced by the GRU Division of Enrollment Management and an external agency to introduce Georgia Regents University Augusta to prospective undergraduate students. In an effort to avoid confusion among this target audience, selected photos of former Augusta State University intercollegiate athletes were altered during production of the brochure through the removal of the ASU identifier from athletic uniforms.
 
This was an error in judgment and does not reflect the views of University leadership, the Office of Communications & Marketing, or the Athletics department on the importance of Jaguar intercollegiate athletic accomplishments or the student athletes who competed, and will continue to compete, as the ASU Jaguars throughout the 2012-2013 athletic season.
 
While we believe this was an isolated occurrence, I anticipate the issue will receive a fair amount of coverage in the local media.
 
We will continue to work hard to brand and market our consolidated university as GRU Augusta. We will also work smart to maintain the legacies of ASU and GHSU to properly reflect the history of these institutions.
 
Thank you for your patience and support as we continue to work together in promoting and branding our educational, research and clinical services and programs.
 
Sincerely,
 
David Brond
Senior Vice President
Communications & Marketing