Alumni who have left the hills and slopes of Syracuse University behind will soon have the chance to bring a piece of the school with them — its scent.

SU is collaborating with Masik Collegiate Fragrances to create a signature perfume and cologne line for women and men. They will be named “Syracuse University for Him” and “Syracuse University for Her,” respectively.

“My hope is that these official scents will someday remind people of the past,” Katie Masik, the owner of Masik Collegiate Fragrances, said on the company website. “Long after the days on campus come to an end, alumni and fans can smell that special scent and be reminded of that special time — the campus, the sporting events, the traditions and most of all, the memories.”

The company looks for big East Coast schools with large fan bases and alumni populations. According to Masik’s website, the company sells fragrances to 17 universities. Given SU’s big sports following, Masik said that SU was a natural choice.

“With Syracuse, (you have) your classic architecture with Crouse and Hall of Languages. We pulled in some very classic type of aromatics in the fragrance options,” Masik said.

The fragrances will capture the “scent of Syracuse,” taking inspiration from the schools’ colors, buildings and climate.

Some of the fragrance options utilize nectarine, ginger, tangerine and orange scents to highlight the smells of spring. Other fragrances have crisper scents inspired by the snow and ice of Syracuse winters. SU specifically asked for natural scents, so Masik took inspiration from the outdoors, incorporating pine trees and fir trees into the fragrances.

Masik Collegiate Fragrances created six different perfumes in the initial testing stage. The 1.7 oz. bottles will be sold in SU bookstores, collegiate retail stores, local Syracuse retail shops and online on Masik’s website for $39.50.

Last Wednesday, focus groups smelled each option and voted on their favorite. The winners of the vote will become the official scents for men and women of Syracuse. There will only be one fragrance for men and women in the line.

Staff from SU Athletics, enrollment management, the alumni relations department and the Bookstore made up the 25-person focus groups, said Julie Walas, undergraduate programs manager of the School of Information Studies.

Walas attended the event and said she enjoyed all of the women’s scents.

“They were a mix of citrusy and wintery and captured the essence of Syracuse well,” Walas said. “There was one called ‘Citrus Chill’ in fact that I liked a lot.”

Kim Brown, SU’s assistant director of alumni programs, live-tweeted the event. She posted pictures for each scent, which showed what ingredients were in each sample. “Citrus Chill,” for example, contained pear, limoncello, tangerine, strawberry, sandalwood and passion fruit.

Brown also tweeted that the scent “Let’s Go Orange” smelled “super summery.” It mixed mandarin, peach, vanilla and cedar together, along with other light scents. “SU Strong,” the men’s cologne, mixed elements like cracked pepper, orange zest and amber. Brown tweeted that she did not enjoy it as much as the women’s perfumes.

Numerous scent-testers and alumni tweeted positively about the fragrances throughout the event, and several expressed surprise. Many said that they had never heard of the concept of collegiate perfumes before the testing.

“The idea is to tie a scent to a memorable life experience – in this case, your @SyracuseU experience! How do you put snow in a scent?” Brown tweeted.

The perfumes gave alumni another reason to reminisce about the past, and several campus favorites — such as oranges, Dome Dogs, beer and snow.

Masik said the typical fragrance project lasts about six months. She started collaborating with SU in the fall, and the fragrances are projected to hit shelves sometime in the spring or summer of 2014.

Published on February 25, 2014 at 11:43 pm

Contact Jackie: jmfrere@syr.edu | @jackie_frere