Tennessee AD John Currie announces that the Lady Vols brand will return

Tennessee Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics John Currie announced that he and Chancellor Beverly Davenport have “committed to restore the visibility of the iconic Lady Vols name, logo and brand.”

The announcement was made this afternoon in Knoxville.

“For some, the Lady Vol name and logo is just as meaningful and sacred as the checkerboard endzones are for others,” Currie stated. “We will not allow for the Lady Vol brand to disappear from our athletics department or university.”

Currie announced that Tennessee would take the following steps to restore the brand.

Reaffirming a commitment to restore visibility of the Lady Vols name, logo and brand.

Continuing to honor and celebrate UT's legacy of incredible national leadership and accomplishments in women's athletics.

Affirming the freedom for our student-athletes to refer to themselves, and their teams, as "Lady Vols" while competing under the official mark of the university – the "Power T."

Restoring Lady Vol branding and signage to athletic facilities such as Sherri Parker Lee Stadium and Regal Stadium.

Providing apparel options that include Lady Vols branding and color scheme.

Currie noted that the university had done extensive research on this topic, including taking the pulse of the student-athletes themselves. "As I visited with student-athletes, they used words such as respect, commitment, honor, tradition and progress for women when articulating what the Lady Vol brand meant to them,” Currie said.

It was announced in 2014 that Tennessee would move away from the Lady Vol brand and use the traditional “Power T” logo for every sport. Today marks the end of that era.

You can hear John Currie’s press conference and read the official release from the university here.