Following widespread opposition from faculty members, students, alumni, and the design community to the decision to change the logo of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), the Board of Governors decided on Wednesday to postpone the decision.
The board made the decision during a meeting held prior to the institute’s 57th convocation, scheduled in the evening.
“We had a discussion and decided to keep in abeyance as of now. Errol (IIMA Director Prof Errol D’Souza) will put it out for wider consultations and inputs and we will then take a look at it again,” said Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of IIMA Board of Governors.
In a statement issued on April 1 on its official website, the IIMA stated that “the proposed logo is to be released in June of this year after the annual vacation”. On reasons for putting the decision on hold, Birla said, “A lot of emotions (are) attached to the existing logo so we thought it’s right to take everyone’s opinion into account.”
A section of the faculty opposed the proposal and wrote a letter, saying the move “will have far-reaching implications and long- term consequences” on the institute’s brand and stakeholders.
The proposal was approved at a recent meeting of the IIMA Board, according to a letter sent by the faculty members to Birla.
“The logo is our identity — the jaali and the Sanskrit verse define us and our Indian ethos. For us, it is a symbol of our Indianness… It is our commitment to “vikas” of the country, industry, society, students and management discipline… The change in logo is sure to have a long-lasting impact on the IIMA brand,” stated the letter.
It also stated that the faculty members were never informed of a need to redesign the logo. “No inputs were sought from faculty; no presentations were made to the Academic Council or any other faculty body,” it added.