For colleges and universities in the Baltimore area, there’s a lot in a name.
Several local schools in recent years have changed their name as they search for the title that will best suit the institution into which they have evolved. The change can present the marketing challenge of finding a way to get the word out about the new name, but if handled well, it can bring massive benefits to schools looking to boost their profile.
In January 2002, Western Maryland College announced its intention to change its name, and several months later, the private, liberal arts school in Westminster officially became McDaniel College — named after William Roberts McDaniel, a former student, administrator and trustee.
Before the name change, many prospective students confused the school with a satellite campus of another school located farther west, but since the change, the school’s geographic reach has doubled and enrollment has shot up 70 percent, with students from every state and many countries attending, said Joyce Muller, a McDaniel spokeswoman.
“I can’t say the name change was the single only factor that drove that,” Muller said, “but certainly it was a critical and effective factor.”
Coppin State University changed its name in 1938, 1950, 1964 and again in 2004. Before 2004, it was Coppin State College, but a campus survey showed that most at the school preferred the change to become a university, a designation that indicates a larger or growing school.
Last summer, Villa Julie College, in the Owings Mills area, switched its name to Stevenson University. Trustees thought Villa Julie was outdated and caused people to associate the rapidly expanding school with the small, all-girls institution it had been before 1969.
The school found an unusual way to promote its new name when the local company DCP Productions wanted to film a Geico insurance commercial at its athletic facilities, negotiating to have two stickers placed in the background of the commercial bearing the Stevenson name. The commercial aired nationwide.
“I think it’s a little more subtle then I would have liked as a marketing person, but it’s everywhere now,” said Glenda Legendre, school spokeswoman. “It’s pretty cool.”
Stevenson also will start a public-relations campaign this week with commercials, print advertisements and e-mails letting people know about the name.
Meanwhile, Loyola College in Maryland will tweak its title in the fall to become Loyola University Maryland.
“This is not a desire to signify any change, but to more accurately reflect the institution that we’ve become,” said Courtney Jolley, a school spokeswoman.
The school had begun studying a comprehensive marketing campaign for the Baltimore-based school before it decided to change its name, and it will take into account creative ways to publicize the change, Jolley said.
“It’s a whole new creative strategy.”
