Group wants new name for SJSU
Mercury News 2/28/07
But now it's time for another change, says a group of activist students.
To boost national recognition, the students want to add the name ``California State University-San Jose'' as an alternative to ``San Jose State University.'' The controversial three-year campaign is gaining steam on campus.
A petition proposing the wordy dual identity, admittedly less than Spartan, has already secured enough signatures to be put before the student body for a March vote.
But administrators vigorously defend the current name, citing tradition and cost, and say they aren't budging. Their support is essential to its success.
The debate is about more than just a name -- it is about reputation, prestige and history.
Activists such as alum Mike Harold, who earned his MBA in 2003, say the campus would gain status if it's more closely identified with the powerful 23-campus California State University, the nation's largest university system. Harold, an attorney and marketer for an Internet media company, believes the two names can live in harmony.
Adding ``CSU'' to the title would help boost recruitment of students, he said. He also believes it would assist job-hungry graduates as they shop around their résumés.
``A huge amount of prestige is associated with a college that has the name of the state of California attached to it,'' Harold said.
`` `San Jose State' sounds like a city college for commuters,'' he said. ``We were the founding CSU campus -- and we don't even get to use the name.''
But campus administrators say the title ``San Jose State'' has strong name recognition and has earned decades of loyalty from students, alums and professors.
``We have many years of building a very high brand awareness of who we are, as San Jose State University. To suddenly be called `Cal State' would lose some of the equity,'' said Jennifer Cauble, the university's associate vice president of marketing. ``We have a long heritage. We protect our name in every way.''
Life in an alphabetical universe of CSUSJs and SJSUs would hurt, not help, she said.
``From our perspective, if you have too many names, you dilute the awareness and understanding of who you are,'' Cauble said.
Name change is not uncommon in the world of academia.
In the past decade, other schools have changed their names, as well.
Western Maryland College changed its name to McDaniel College. Trenton State College became College of New Jersey. And leave it to Beaver College in the Philadelphia suburbs to change its name to Arcadia University. Only two years ago, California State University-Hayward, decided to become California State University-East Bay. The academic part of the university in Fresno calls itself California State University, Fresno -- while its athletic arm calls itself Fresno State.
Some have gone the other way, deciding to cash in on their local identity and distance themselves from a larger system. For instance, the State University of New York-Albany now calls itself the University at Albany. Similarly, SUNY-Stony Brook is now Stony Brook University.
Campaigners behind ``Cal State-SJ'' note that CSU is already printed on diplomas and the uniforms of campus security guards. But they want it available on team uniforms, Web sites, promotional materials and bookstore materials, as well.
The campus at One Washington Square has a long history of identity crises. Twice in its past it has been called a ``California State'' school -- once in the 1800s, then again in 1972. For far longer, it has called itself a ``San Jose'' school.
Back in 1973, unhappy with the ``Cal State'' designation, San Jose and four other campuses -- San Francisco, San Diego, Humboldt and Sonoma -- sought to have their city names restored. It happened a year later only after the passage of legislation sponsored by state Sen. Al Alquist.
Today's students are divided on the addition. SJSU business student Michael Hentrick, 24, said that ``California is a more powerful name or symbol than San Jose. Incorporating it in the name would help with better recognition of our school -- around the country and worldwide.''
But undergraduate Christina Gullickson said ``I think SJSU should keep its name. Sometimes I don't feel like I have a lot in common with other students on campus, but SJSU is something I identify with. SJSU rolls off the tongue a lot better than CSUSJ.
``Plus,'' she added, ``I already own the sweatshirt.''
March's vote is just a poll of students. If it passes, the next step would be to appeal to the CSU Board of Trustees and Chancellor Charles Reed. The trustees and Reed would likely want support from campus administrators.
Names have importance in the competitive world of higher education, said Tim Westerbeck, managing director of the Chicago-based marketing firm Lipman Hearne.
``Names are powerful things,'' he said. ``They establish a general context for how an institution is viewed from outside -- and for how they feel about themselves.
``At the same time,'' he said, ``giving an institution one particular name or another doesn't change the reality of what it is.''