For UMass, much is in a name
Some want to drop the Amherst tag
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Pennsylvania State University has 24 campuses, but no one mentions "University Park" when the Nittany Lions take the field. The University of Michigan disdains any humbling hyphenated reference to Ann
But the name of Massachusetts' flagship public university includes its hometown of Amherst, a designation many graduates believe detracts from its institutional image and diminishes its growing reputation as a research center.
While many graduates simply call their alma mater UMass, media reports, breaching university protocol, often use at or a hyphen to specify the main campus. This, many graduates complain, creates a provincial perception, giving a 25,000-student research institution the ring of a commuter school.
"I am wholly convinced the UMass-Amherst moniker is detrimental to the status and brand recognition of the flagship campus," said Mark Coogan, a financial analyst from Hull who graduated in 1998. "If UMass truly has aspirations to be as great as public universities such as the University of Michigan, it must present itself publicly as equals to those institutions. The Amherst label diminishes its flagship status by lumping them in with all the others."
With the university seeking to raise its national profile under a new chancellor, Robert Holub, the naming issue could play a crucial role in the university's long-range marketing strategy, alumni say. Former chancellor John Lombardi was a staunch advocate for the Amherst designation and tailored the university's marketing to feature it.
Holub, who arrived Aug. 1, recently hired Tom Milligan to direct the university's marketing efforts. Milligan worked with Holub at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, which like Amherst is a flagship university at the head of a five-campus system.
Supporters contend that the name UMass-Amherst emphasizes the university's flagship status and location in a college-rich area that features prestigious Amherst, Mount Holyoke, and Smith colleges. Nationally known flagships such as the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Texas at Austin do the same, administrators note, without sacrificing their identity.
"It states who we are - the University of Massachusetts - and where we are - Amherst," said Patrick Callahan, a UMass-Amherst spokesman. Callahan said Holub and his administrative team have not had time to analyze the name's impact on the university's image and marketing efforts, but noted that there is no "hard and fast model" among flagships.
Robert Connolly, a spokesman for the University of Massachusetts system, said the name reflects a "system of coequals" rather than a lead-campus model like Penn State. Critics of the Amherst appellation acknowledge that the country's leading flagships, particularly those that are athletic powerhouses, enjoy greater national prominence and name-recognition than UMass. They don't believe a name change alone would elevate the university's stature.
But they contend that the name debate is a symptom of a larger issue. "It obviously touches on longstanding complaints that the flagship doesn't get the funding or attention it deserves," said Max Page, a UMass-Amherst professor. "The state hasn't recognized the importance of a having a top-flight flagship at the head of a university system."
And some faculty members and university leaders privately say they suspect the Amherst designation undercuts the university's aspirations, and they hope Holub will renew the UMass emphasis, which they consider more distinguished.
The discussion goes beyond symbolism, administrators say. With universities intensely competing for top students and faculty, research grants, and alumni donations, perception is pivotal. As a result, more universities have turned to branding and strategic marketing specialists to burnish their image and broaden name recognition.
For instance, the flagship of the University of Missouri system last year shed Columbia from its official name in response to criticism that the hyphenated name had a regional connotation.
"There was a strong consensus that our name reflect our statewide mission," said Chris Koukola, assistant to the chancellor for university affairs at the University of Missouri.
The University of Missouri, informally called Mizzou, incorporated the Columbia appendage when the university system was created in the 1960s. Few alumni liked it, and had even less affection for the "UMC" abbreviation it created.
As in Missouri, many Massachusetts residents attended the flagship when it was known only as UMass. Once known as Massachusetts State College, it became the University of Massachusetts in 1947. It officially adopted the name UMass-Amherst in 1994. But even to many recent graduates and current students, the flagship is UMass and UMass only. It's emblazoned on sports jerseys, and is central to the alumni association's motto ("You were. You are. UMASS."). University e-mail addresses feature Umass.
Yet college paraphernalia sold at the college store illustrate the ambivalence. Hooded sweatshirts display The University of Massachusetts on the front, and Amherst on the hood. Others have UMass in big block letters above the word Amherst, in smaller script. The Alumni Association offers credit cards with and without the Amherst designation.
Officials at flagships that downplay the individual campus name contend that their university's name helps convey a distinctive identity and grandeur. "The Penn State name is just off the charts in terms of name recognition," said Cynthia Hall, assistant vice president for university relations. "So you don't typically hear "University Park."
Many alumni of the flagship believe the name UMass has a similar stature, and criticize university leaders for not fully capitalizing on it.
"The president and the board of trustees don't think in terms of branding," said Nick Layzer, a 1998 graduate. "Without a brand, there's no chance of building a reputation."
