Tennessee middle school unveils Musketeer mascot following UC's cease-and-desist letter
"The long-awaited moment has arrived... Our Musketeers are getting a brand-new look! And trust us, it's SLEEK, it's BOLD, and it's ready to make a statement," the school, located about 30 miles outside Nashville, Tennessee, posted to Facebook.
In October, the University of Cincinnati sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Tennessee middle school, ordering it to change its previous bearcat logo.
🎉♥️ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL 🌟🖤 We are proud to officially unveil Cheatham Middle School's new Musketeers logo! As...
Posted by Cheatham County School District on Thursday, March 6, 2025
The letter from Collegiate Licensing Co. (CLC), which is the licensing agent for UC, said the university was aware Cheatham was using UC's official logos and its Bearcats word mark on signage and other material.
Cheatham Middle School was "left with no reasonable choice but to rebrand" and select a new mascot, it announced on Facebook.
That's when another Cincinnati university offered up its mascot free of charge.
Anthony Breen, CEO of Synergistic, a marketing agency in Cincinnati that works with Xavier University, reached out to the school for a potential rebranding to the Musketeers.
Jeff Hobbs, athletic director for Cheatham County School District, then said "Musketeers" was among the names being considered. After three rounds of voting, which included the public, alumni and stakeholders, the school announced in December it would officially change from the Cheatham Middle Bearcats to the Cheatham Middle School Musketeers.
Hobbs told The Enquirer in December that Synergistic would handle the school's rebrand package, including all the graphic designs for uniforms, banners, the school's letterheads and multiple versions of usable graphics, and Musketeer logos that Cheatham Middle School could use.
The school thanked Synergistic via Facebook on Thursday for "creating an amazing logo."
While it is similar to Xavier University's Musketeer, it's not quite the same. The logo kept Cheatham's initial colorway of red, white and black, which is of importance to the school.
"The school colors were red, white and black. It was important, when you're having a lot of things taken from you, it's 'What can we keep?'" Hobbs said in a December interview.
He also told The Enquirer that by working with Breen, an XU grad, all the new artwork and logos would be seen by the university before it was approved for usage.
"While other universities do opt to trademark their mascot names, that is something that Xavier University has not ever done and therefore, we don't necessarily have to seek any permission from them," he said. "We definitely have their support and blessing on becoming 'Musketeers.'"
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: School unveils Musketeer mascot after UC wouldn't let it be Bearcats
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