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UM Board of Curators Chair-elect Cheryl Walker talks with Curator Vice Chair-elect Bo Fraser (left) and Curator Doug Russell (right).

MU can drop Columbia from name

No open opposition at Curators' meeting

By: Derek Simons

Posted: 12/3/07

With the battle over the hyphen settled, the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) appeared to have obtained almost everything it asked for.

For all written communications (print and electronic) relating to recruitment, fundraising, athletics and similar public relations functions, the Columbia campus can now call itself simply the University of Missouri. The one exception is for the first reference in official correspondence.

The University of Missouri System (UM) Board of Curators approved the change "in recognition of the historic status" of the campus in an 8-0 vote at the Nov. 29 meeting, held in UMKC's Pierson Auditorium.

Interim UM President Gordon Lamb and MU Chancellor Brady Deaton agreed on the wording of the amendment prior to Nov. 29. The chancellors of the other three campuses were present when the compromise was brokered, according to UM spokesman Scott Charton.

The amendment was initially included on the consent agenda, a spot normally reserved for a single, quick vote on a group of non-controversial topics, but Curator John M. Carnahan III moved to discuss it separately.

"I would like to reaffirm that we are not changing the name of the University of Missouri-Columbia, and that is the part that needs to be clarified," Curator Cheryl Walker said during the public discussion.

Carnahan said he supported the change to the Collected Rules and Regulations and considered it a "meaningful gesture" toward the Columbia campus.

Various curators indicated it was merely acknowledging reality.

"I did a little research, and nine out of 10 times it is referred to as the University of Missouri," Board of Curators Chair Don Walsworth said.

The push for the name change started in May, when For All We Call Mizzou Campaign organizers said it would help them realize their billion-dollar fundraising goal.

Opposition came from both the University of Missouri-St. Louis and UMKC campuses, as many said it would lower their status to that of a satellite part of MU.

The UMKC Faculty Senate passed a Sense of the Senate resolution in September strongly opposing the change, and some spoke of reverting to the pre-1963 designation of University of Kansas City.

University of Missouri-Rolla met no opposition to changing its name to Missouri University of Science and Technology. The change is effective Jan. 1, 2008.

According to UMKC Chancellor Dr. Guy Bailey, all the curators did was affirm a current practice and the compromise would allow the issue to be put on the back burner.

"What we're called is less important than what we do," Bailey said. "We were fortunate, because if you look at four-letter schools, they do a lot better in terms of name recognition."

He gave the examples of UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), UNLV (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio) and UMKC.

"What four letters will do is give you a much better name brand," Bailey said.

Asked about talk of a possible name change for UMKC, he said he wasn't sure there was ever much discussion of the matter.

"My view of this is if something comes about and we have to do something, we'll do it," Bailey said. "If we don't, we won't. We'd be investing a lot of time on things that are not our core mission."

dsimons@unews.com