PULLMAN, Wash. – As the fall election season approaches, the Cougar Nation is invited to vote in a campaign of a different stripe, so to speakone that will select Washington State University’s official tartan.
Online voting in the “Prowling for Plaid” campaign kicks off today at http://tartan.wsu.edu. The voting closes September 9.
The idea of selecting an official tartan is the brainchild of WSU’s Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design, and Textiles (AMDT). Karen Leonas, faculty chair of AMDT, has spearheaded the project.
“Tartans historically represent kinship,” Leonas noted, “so it’s a short leap from that idea to the concept of establishing a WSU tartan that provides another way for the Cougar Nation to showcase its support for the university and each other.”
 Shateara Cornmesser and Kaitlin Ronngren are two
of the students from AMDT involved in the WSU tartan
project.
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Leonas hopes the Cougar Pride for which WSU has a well-deserved reputation will lead to spirited voting and widespread participation as the university becomes one of the first in the Pac-12 to designate an official tartan. At the University of Alabama, for example, more than 400,000 votes were cast to determine the Crimson Tide’s tartan.
For the uninitiated, tartans are most associated with Scotland, where tartan designs have been created for centuries to celebrate the kinship of clans and families. Tartan patterns of interlocking horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colors have been applied to everything from kilts and other articles of clothing to paper, plastics, packaging, and wall coverings.
Benefits for students
In addition to the pride-building aspects of the vote, selection of a tartan will also deliver benefits to the university’s students: a portion of the revenues generated by sales of WSU tartan-embellished merchandise will support student scholarships and enhance the student learning environment.
The tartan project also provides an opportunity for current students in the AMDT program to learn about all of the considerations involved in guiding apparel from concept to development to the marketplace, according to Leonas.
“We strive to provide our AMDT students with an in-depth understanding of what’s required to succeed in leadership positions in the thriving textile and apparel industry in the Pacific Northwest,” she said. “In 2010, as an example, the industry generated $16.4 billion dollars for the state of Washington’s economy. So the tartan project is an ideal fit with our educational mission.”
AMDT students involved in the project echo their department chair’s enthusiasm.
Kaitlin Ronngren, a senior from Spokane majoring in merchandising, said she jumped at the chance to help with the tartan effort once she learned of it.
“It’s so exciting to be part of a new Cougar tradition,” she said. “And the chance to work on some of the promotional materials for the project is an invaluable, hands-on experience in marketing that I couldn’t get from normal coursework. It is truly a unique and fun project, and I can’t wait for all Cougs to see it.”
Ronngren, along with two of her classmates, Shateara Cornmesser, a senior from Spangle, Wash., majoring in apparel design, and Janett Auh, a junior from Bellevue, Wash., majoring in merchandising, are currently leading the marketing efforts. Ronngren and Cornmesser are developing a hang-tag to be attached to WSU tartan merchandise explaining the project and its benefits. Auh is leading the effort to promote the vote.
Three designs
Three tartans are available to choose from during voting. Not surprisingly, they all incorporate WSU’s official crimson and gray colors.
Results of the voting will be announced during the university’s Homecoming activities, September 20-22. A limited amount of WSU tartan merchandise will be available for purchase then, with a larger inventory available around the time of the Apple Cup in late November.
The winning tartan will be registered with the International Tartan Registry, a Scotland-based agency which has indexed some 7,000 tartans created worldwide.
A committee of university, community, and apparel industry representatives helped narrow the number of proposed tartan designs from nine to three. The committee included Melinda Beasley, managing broker, Beasley Realty, Pullman; Pamela Bernardo, wife of Dan Bernardo, WSU vice president of agriculture and extension and dean of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences; Carmento Floyd, wife of WSU President Elson S. Floyd; Dean Holly, founder and CEO of Thomas Dean Co., Bellevue, Wash.; Glenn Johnson, mayor of Pullman and WSU Lester Smith Distinguished Professor of Media Management; Rhonda Kromm, immediate past president, WSU Alumni Association; Linda Peffer, vice president, corporate responsibility, Nordstrom; Kendra Moos, wife of Bill Moos, WSU director of athletics; Tom Meister, president and CEO, Konjo Abada, Vancouver, Wash.; Jud Preece, senior associate director, WSU Alumni Association; and current students Ronngren and Cornmesser.
Collegiate Tartan Apparel, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, will create WSU’s tartan merchandise. The university’s Office of Trademark Licensing will manage the licensing. Sales of merchandise will generate royalties and scholarship funds to benefit WSU students.
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