A blue, cross-like design emblazoned on T-shirts at Penn State University has some critics seeing red.
The shirts — intended to foster school spirit — sport a vertical blue line down the center with the words "Penn State White
Penn State says it has received six complaints about the shirt, including one from the Anti-Defamation League's Philadelphia branch, from people who say it connotes a Christian cross. The logo design also has become the focus of controversy in the student newspaper, "The Daily
Bill Mahon, vice president for university relations, said six people have contacted Penn State to voice their objections to the shirt's design. "Six complaints is not a controversy," Mahon wrote Foxnews.com. "Students submit shirt designs to the student paper each year. Students then vote for their favorite design and they are sold in the campus bookstore." Mahon said the design was based on the single blue stripe on the football team's helmets and will not be pulled from store shelves as some have asked. "The shirts have sold out and no changes are planned," he said. Stephanie Bennis, a senior at the school, said she created the shirt's design in March with fellow public relations major Emily Sabolsky, and in no way did they intend to create religious overtones. Like Mahon, she said the single blue stripe is a nod to the university's football program. "That was the entire idea," she said. "And all we thought was normally wording goes right across the chest. That's truly the reason why we did it."