UC Davis is growing, and it’s doing it together.
About 1,000 members of the campus community united last week under a new rallying cry for the university — “Outgrow the Expected” — and heard how that mantra affects more than just the campus leaders who took to the stages in Davis and in Sacramento.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck moment for us,” Chancellor Gary S. May told the crowd in The Pavilion at the Activities and Recreation Center.
RELATED COVERAGE
- Watch a highlight video of the event at the top of this page, or watch a replay of the full event here.
- UC Davis’ New Mantra: Outgrow the Expected
- See social media posts and more photos in THE DOWNLOAD: A Festive Atmosphere at Kickoff Celebration.
Outgrow the Expected is a new branding campaign for the university — one that will be woven into future messages, visual cues, graphical treatments, fonts and colors, with the goal of raising the profile and impact of UC Davis. The new messages and styles introduced at the event will slowly begin to appear in materials produced by UC Davis, and will be further highlighted this October when the university publicly launches its next comprehensive fundraising campaign.
Outgrow the Expected reaches beyond academics and back again, four Intercollegiate Athletics coaches told the crowd at the event and those watching via livestream on the Sacramento campus, and at the university’s Bodega Marine Laboratory and Tahoe Environmental Research Center, saying increased visibility helps recruit student-athletes, whose successes shine a light back on academics.
“There’s excellence all over this campus and throughout this organization,” men’s basketball coach Jim Les said. “The onus is on all of us to raise the profile of UC Davis and get the word out.”
Football coach Dan Hawkins cited “ubuntu,” the South African philosophy of humanity and togetherness, and said when one area of campus benefits, others do, too.
“It further exemplifies the growth on this campus, the huge investment by our stewards and alums who support not just athletics but the mission of this university,” Hawkins said.
The new rallying cry also expands to the hands-on work the campus community is doing to support sustainability, like planting climate-appropriate trees, said Bob Segar, associate vice chancellor of Campus Planning and Environmental Stewardship and planning director for Aggie Square.
“We have this saying in the office that says, ‘Co-creating equals co-owning,’” he said. “If we give you the opportunity to co-create the campus of the future with us, you will co-own it and support this university forever.”
More information for communications and marketing staffers is available at brandguide.ucdavis.edu, and additional general information is forthcoming.