Athletics administration is beginning a new internal advertisement campaign that will start showing up around campus late in the spring of 2006.Danny Morrison, athletics director, said the concept of the campaign, You’re a Horned Frog, will be to reinforce the student-athlete’s pride in TCU. It was conceived of in the spring of 2005 and is targeted at student-athletes.

“The basic concept was to kind of play off the NCAA marketing campaign, Little Eyes Are Watching, and to reinforce the sense of pride that our athletes have in TCU and to promote the personal responsibility among the student-athletes,” Morrison said. “I think they came up with a terrific message.”

The NCAA had a promotion similar to the You’re a Horned Frog campaign called Little Eyes Are Watching You. Rick Waters, assistant director of editorial services, said the base campaign was an NCAA-designed attempt to convey the message that student-athletes are always role models.

The You’re A Horned Frog campaign has three components that reinforce sportsmanship: Play Like It, Live Like it and Think Like It. Morrison said the campaign also has four basic messages: sportsmanship, academic performance, leadership and accountability/personal responsibility.

Ross Bailey, associate athletic director, said the campaign is a reminder to students to hold themselves to a higher standard.

“We think there is something special to being a Horned Frog, more special in our minds than being something else,” Bailey said. “The people at other schools have had some issues and we just want to remind our kids and our employees that we try to hold ourselves to a higher standard than that.”

Waters was part of the design team for the campaign along with Chad Lorance, assistant director of communications, and Gorland Mar, director of publications.

Waters said he wanted to find the words to properly convey the culture of TCU athletics.

“The culture of the athletic department, winning with class, was already there,” Waters said. “All we wanted to do was find some language and words that conveyed that.”

Waters said the campaign includes signs to be put in locker rooms, weight rooms and team areas, including the academic center for student-athletes.

Banners and shirts will also be included in the campaign.

Morrison said introducing the campaign is a two-step process, the first of which begins with signs and banners in the Academic Services office. He said he hopes signs will be in locker rooms by the end of the semester.

Though this campaign is aimed at athletes, Bailey said it could apply to the general student body as well.

“Most of the people at TCU are here because of a love or developing love for the university,” Bailey said. “We want TCU to become a way of life, we want those people to stay connected the rest of their lives.”

Morrison said celebrating positive values among athletes is important.

“In a day and age where we have a tendency in our society to zero in and publicize negative behavior,” Morrison said, “it’s important that we try at least among our own 419 student-athletes to celebrate the positive values that come along with athletics.