Students across generations have gazed at the Wittenberg Seal. They’ve seen it prominently displayed on their degrees. Some have glanced down upon it during their treks from Recitation to Blair or Myers to the main entrance. Some have memorized the motto emblazoned on it, and some have seen it on license plates around Ohio.

But the Wittenberg Seal also houses a history of its own — a history filled with tradition and revision. Pictures of three incarnations of the Wittenberg Seal accompany an article by the late Wittenberg vice president Emerson Reck in the 1966 Wittenberg Alumnus. Regina P. Entorf, reference librarian and associate professor, found the first of these Seals in the library archives as wax Seals on diplomas from 1853 and 1907. This first Seal includes no founding date; however, Greek letters spell out the school motto. The second Seal also includes the school motto in Greek letters. It was used from 1927-1959.

According to Reck, it “first appeared on a Wittenberg bulletin, The Portals of Wittenberg, dated May 2, 1927.” The final seal accompanying the article was introduced in 1959 to reflect the change from college to university, and it includes the motto, “Having light we pass it on to others,” in English.

Although debate still continues today on the translation of the motto from the Greek to the English, the actual Greek quotation from Plato’s Republic is “Lampadia Exontes Diadosousin Allelois,” which forms the basis for the modern version of the motto. Paul Parlato, dean of the School of Community Education, in his research on the Seal, notes that the root word “Lampos” signifies “torches” or “lamps” and that “Allelois” conveys reciprocity, “one to another.”

Some time later, a document showing the three Seals of Wittenberg, which included a substitution for the first Seal shown in Reck’s article, surfaced. This Seal, origin unknown, taken from the 1916 yearbook, The Thesis, was said to be the first Seal and was used from 1900-26. It includes the motto in Greek letters. This brings the total to four seals used in some official capacity during the life of Wittenberg, and all except the first include some reference to Springfield, Ohio.

In the last decade, a renewed interest in the university Seal appeared as the sesquicentennial celebration drew near. Two notable uses of the Seal included its presence on letterheads and envelopes of university stationery, and a large bronze replica of the Seal, funded by the classes of 1990 and 1991, which is installed in the center of campus. Jim Dexter, director of public relations, explained that the policy regarding the Wittenberg Seal reserves its use for the “most formal, most official and most important events.” He listed celebrations of historical significance and diplomas, as well as the formal symbol of the traditions that belong to Wittenberg. The familiar Wittenberg gothic logo is routinely used in publications, but the seal in the center of campus has become a permanent landmark.

It literally became permanent three years ago when, according to Superintendent of Grounds Mark L. Goheen, thieves attempted to abscond with it. Goheen advised that the landscape company, which originally installed the Seal, returned to campus, dug holes, threaded bolts through and anchored it all in concrete. “I guarantee that no one is going to move it without a backhoe,” Goheen said.

The most recent replica of the Wittenberg University seal hangs over the main entrance of the atrium of Hollenbeck Hall. A gift to the university handcrafted by several members of the Wittenberg community, the stained glass Seal celebrates the giant step into the new millenium and the future of Wittenberg that Hollenbeck Hall represents.

— Phyllis Eberts ’00