Tufts is sure to garner significant publicity this week, as college women's soccer teams converge on the Medford campus for the NCAA Tournament Final-Four weekend. While Division III women's soccer is not March Madness - where universities make millions on game tickets, concessions, and TV contracts - such visibility for its athletics is rare for Tufts.
The highly anticipated event raises the question of how Tufts can best capitalize on the attention, as well as on more common marketing and licensing of the University name and logo.
University licensing is big business around the nation, providing some schools with hefty profits for financial aid and promotional activities. Tufts, however, has long neglected to enter the realm of academic merchandizing.
Dining and Business Services Director Patti Lee admitted that, unlike many of its benchmark schools, Tufts does not have a comprehensive licensing program to help ensure that merchandise manufacturers and vendors use the Tufts logo in a way that promotes the school's image.
Lee said that although she is interested in selling more Tufts merchandise, "there is no formal program in place to make it happen." Additionally, Tufts does not employ an administrator to oversee the details of such an undertaking, she explained.
Besides administrative issues, the greatest obstacles in expanding the market have been the financing of startup costs and a lack of demand. Unlike schools that are already well established in the market, Tufts would have to allocate funds for the program before receiving any revenue, let alone profits.
Though branded apparel from many Ivy League and NCAA Division I schools sell across the nation and raise significant funds for scholarships and athletic programs, neither the trustees nor the athletic department have considered it seriously for Tufts.
"Merchandise as a source of income for the [athletics] department is not something we are looking at right now," Director of Athletics Bill Gehling said.
According to sophomore Adam Carlis, one of the Board of Trustees' student representatives, the University's highest governing body did not discuss an increase in name licensing at their most recent meeting. The trustees' Development Committee, of which Carlis is a member, focuses mainly on alumni relations, endowments, and raising money for the University through investments.
Students have, in the past, looked into utilizing the Tufts name for marketing purposes. The Tufts Community Union Senate held extensive discussions on the issue in the spring of 1999, but there was no actual movement on the question.
While there is no large-scale marketing program, the University does employ some programs to license its name and insignia. Through the School of Engineering, Tufts licenses its logo to the Lego Company, and Lego parts designed by Tufts engineers carry the Tufts seal on the box.
However, in the more standard sense of licensing - clothing and other gear - the Barnes & Noble Tufts bookstores on the Medford and Boston campuses are the only merchants carrying official Tufts paraphernalia. According to Lee, Barnes & Noble does not have exclusive rights to sell Tufts apparel, which is a common misconception among students. In fact, any interested vendor could negotiate a contract with the school.
Under the contract between Tufts and the Barnes & Noble bookstore at the Medford campus, the bookstore has the right to sell any reasonable merchandise with the Tufts name and logo, with a percentage of all sales going to the University.
Bookstore General Manager Wayne Diskin said that he orders Tufts merchandise like books through company representatives who come to him pitching their services. He decides on the designs based on how well they will sell, with input from customers and student employees.
The Boston campus bookstore manager, whose stores serve students in the Medical, Dental, and Veterinary schools, only sells official merchandise approved by Medical School administrators. The Veterinary School does not maintain a separate bookstore at the Grafton campus.
Both stores also offer their selection online at www.tufts.bkstore.com and tufts-med.bkstore.com, respectively. The sites, though easy to use, pale in comparison with the website of the Harvard and MIT COOP, www.thecoop.com, in both selection and user-friendliness.
As a result of the low volume of online and over-the-phone sales, Diskin sees it more of a service to the University rather than a serious profit-making opportunity. He estimated that the Medford bookstore, whose website is linked to the Tufts Alumni site, ships up to ten orders a week, with a large boost around the holidays and parent and alumni get-togethers. The majority of requests come from parents and relatives of the students and alumni.
In addition to the merchandise officially licensed for sale through corporations, according to the Pachyderm, students and unofficial groups who wish to sell a product with the Tufts name, logo, or insignia may do so with the written approval from the director of Student Activities. Additionally, "student organizations recognized by the [Judiciary] may use the Tufts name and/or logo in representing themselves, without special permission of the Director of Student Activities," the Pachyderm reads.
Gehling said that many spring teams, all of which travel south for training, use these sales to finance their travel costs.
"Selling merchandise is a very important part of funding for spring trips which aren't covered by Student Activities," he said.
