PORTLAND — “Made in Oregon” may become “University of Oregon,” but maybe not without a fight.

The debate over the landmark downtown Portland sign that glows over the Willamette River at night has also become a debate about the visibility of the University of Oregon in the largest city in the state.

For Hannah Fisher, the student body president of Portland State University, the debate over changing the Made in Oregon sign to say “University of Oregon” boils down to one issue: fairness.

“We all need to raise visibility, but it should not be done at the cost of overshadowing each other,” she said during recent testimony before the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission.

“Making the sign into a University of Oregon sign will do just that,” Fisher said.

As a tenant in the White Stag Block of Old Town in Portland, the University of Oregon has the option to change the sign, and the Daily Journal of Commerce in Portland reported that UO officials made it clear that’s what they want at a Historic Landmarks Commission meeting last week.

The sign is owned by Ramsay Signs. Its president, Darryl Paulsen, said UO’s lease agreement with White Stag Block property owner Venerable Properties gives the university the option to have the sign changed.

But city officials hope to convince the university not to proceed with the change.

City Commissioner Randy Leonard and Mayor Sam Adams back the idea of the city buying the sign from Ramsay Signs in order to leave it unchanged.

Leonard called UO’s sign change proposal “incendiary,” and said the university is “moving into Portland and using (Portland’s) most prominent sign to promote itself.”

“How would people in Eugene feel if Portland State put a PSU Vikings’ large neon sign on top of Skinner Butte?” he said, referring to the butte overlooking the UO campus in Eugene.

Several opponents of the sign change told the commission that the Made in Oregon sign is the closest thing Portland has to a Space Needle or Gateway Arch.

Angela Wykoff said the fact that the sign has changed from White Satin Sugar to White Stag and then to Made in Oregon over its nearly 70-year life is not enough reason to change it to University of Oregon.

“When Oregonians see the sign, they think of the Rose Festival and Crater Lake,” Wykoff said.

Commission members delayed a decision about the sign change until April 6. But members said they cannot deny a change request.

Members said the best way to ensure the sign continues to say “Made in Oregon” would be for it to come into public ownership.