On Tuesday evening, April 22, 2008, the Lewis & Clark Physical Education and Athletics unveiled the new look of Pioneer Athletics. The new athletics logo, featuring a Newfoundland dog named Pio, was officially rolled out at the annual Student-Athlete Recognition ceremony.

The inspiration for the new symbol of Pioneer athletics comes from the Corps of Discovery. One of the lesser-known members of the Lewis & Clark expedition was a dog, more specifically a Newfoundland. When the Department was trying to find a graphic representation to add to the traditional L&C, a little research into the Newfoundland breed made the dog a perfect choice to be the symbol of Pioneer Athletics. There are three words that describe Newfoundlands: Strength, Pride, Endurance. These three adjectives are what the Pioneers strive to be, thus a concept was born.

Jim Ward, a graphic artist out of Missouri, created the mark. It went through several refinements and a series of focus groups throughout the Lewis & Clark community helped to refine the symbol to its final form.

"I believe this new logo, form the new L & C to the adoption of Pio, clarifies and energizes who we are, what we stand for and what we want to be,"said Director of Physical Education and Athletics, Clark Yeager. "The process to develop these images has taken the better part of a year and has involved many constituencies on campus and for those of us who have been involved from the beginning, this image really grows on you.  For the many alumni whose experience at L & C involves other images, I believe you will readily see that we have fully embraced your traditions and accomplishments and fully intend to continue to cultivate relationships between the past and present."

There is a website devoted to Pio that explains in more detail the history of the logo, the history of Lewis & Clark and Pioneer logos throughout history, the legend of the Newfoundland member of the Corps of Discovery, and more information about the breed. We invite you to click on the logo below to learn more about Pio and this other information.