SU football’s T-shirt contest winner depicts campus experience, fan values
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On Sept. 5, Syracuse University alum Emma Lee stood by the staircase next to the student section and waited for the referee’s whistle to signal a break in SU football’s opening game at the JMA Wireless Dome. Lee had been on the field before working for the Dome changeover crew, but this was different.
Filled with rowdy SU football fans, Lee appeared on the jumbotron in the end zone holding up a framed “CUSE” with detailed illustrations filling the letters. Cheerleaders lined on either side of her, donning black shirts with the same design.
The design was Lee’s, who was being honored as the winner of the 2026 Syracuse University Football T-Shirt Design Contest, which was organized by SU Athletics, the Syracuse Campus Store and Auxiliary Services. Only current SU students could participate, and they had to submit an original design highlighting staples of the SU community, so Lee, who was still a student, submitted her work in April. She found out she was the winner a few days later.
The Campus Store sold out of the first and second orders of tees after SU’s first two games, the store told The Daily Orange over email.
“I love drawing figures and stuff like that, which is why I really like drawing sports,” Lee said. “So it was kind of perfect.”
Lee, who graduated in May from the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ illustration program, initially wanted to create drawings for children’s books or newspapers. Around her sophomore year, Lee pivoted to sports illustrations.
While SU Athletics had hosted public fan contests in the past, it decided to take a student-centric approach this season, according to Rachel Duffy, SU’s Director of Strategic Partnership & Licensing.
The competition was announced over email in the spring, and as soon as René Vetter, a friend and classmate of Lee’s, saw it, he thought Lee would be the perfect candidate.
“Emma had just done the first draft of the design for one of our classes, and I was like, ‘Dude, you should actually consider doing this because you have something that would already work,’” Vetter said. “‘I feel like you actually could have a real shot.’”
Emma Lee’s “CUSE” design features Otto the Orange, the JMA Wireless Dome and more. Lee graduated in May from the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ illustration program. Courtesy of Emma Lee
Lee grew up outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, so sports were difficult to avoid. Although she wasn’t as diehard as other Philadelphia sports fans, once she arrived at SU, she kept track of her city’s sports to stay connected to home. Her favorite to watch was basketball, where she backs the Philadelphia 76ers.
Fueled by SU’s sporting game environment and her love for drawing figures, Lee began illustrating sports-related subjects for her class projects. She mostly focused on Philadelphia sports, but for one project, she drew a piece based on a Syracuse Mets game she attended.
Now, Lee works as a motion graphics coordinator for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, a hockey team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Seeing Lee’s passion for both the illustrations and subject matter, Vetter knew she’d found her niche.
“It just started really clicking, and she was able to do all these complicated compositions with all these different players all at once,” Vetter said.
Lee had been designing a poster for Geek/Art Confluence earlier that year, which highlighted all SU sports. She used it as inspiration for her initial submission to the contest. The designs were ranked and selected by a combination of SU Athletics staff and students who judged entries based on their inclusion of Syracuse staples.
In her final design, Lee included the tradition of the marching band playing on the steps of Hendricks Chapel, a nod to Varsity Pizza, a football player wearing Ernie Davis’ beloved No. 44 and Otto the Orange in front of the iconic Hall of Languages.
The T-shirts with Lee’s design hit the Schine Student Center Campus Store and the Dome before the first football game. Since selling out, it’s waiting on a third order to come in, the Campus Store told The Daily Orange.
Lee got to keep the enlarged framed printout of her design and received a gift basket from the Campus Store, Syracuse Auxiliary Service and SU Athletics with merchandise, gift cards and more. Lee appreciated the prize, and despite not getting any revenue from the sales, she said the experience made it worthwhile.
From working on the design at the John A. Lally Athletics Complex to being honored at the opening football game, Lee’s dreams as an SU sports fan were fulfilled. At the opening game, she met fans walking around the Dome sporting her design and some Athletics team members who worked on the shirt after Lee’s initial design won.
“I remember some kid passed by and was like ‘Oh, that’s the person that designed it,’” Lee said. “That was kind of funny.”
Those kids were some of the few lucky ones to get their hands on the shirt. Marisa Paninski, an SU senior who’s been working at the Campus Store for four years, was working when the initial order came into the store. Paninski wanted to snag a shirt, but it was sold out by her next shift.
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Paninski said some high-profile people at SU purchased the shirt, including deans and staff. She also appreciated that the design featured other aspects of SU sports games, like the marching band.
“I didn’t know that the competition was happening until we actually got (the shirts) in,” Paninski said. “I think it’s cool to have a student have a voice in what we’re selling.”
Lee grabbed a shirt for Vetter, who now teaches art classes in Palo Alto, California. The two met freshman year in DellPlain Hall, where Lee lived on floor one and Vetter on the second floor. Lee’s design impressed Vetter, specifically the details and layering.
“It’s so detailed, and I think she did a great job of capturing all these different parts of Syracuse and the student experience, especially the football experience,” Vetter said. “It’s just so impressive.
“And then also it looks great on a shirt. It’s really just an effective design.”
The shirt will be available online soon and will continue to be sold until completely sold out, the Campus Store told The Daily Orange.
The Campus Store and SU Athletics plan to hold a new competition sometime during the spring semester to choose a new design for next season. Vetter hopes this will give art students a chance to get involved in one of SU’s most popular activities: sports.
“I feel like some pretty cool designs are really gonna come out of it,” Vetter said. “There’s a lot of very artistically talented people, and I think it’s going to be really cool to see.”
