Recently UCCS (University of Colorado Colorado Springs) announced its upcoming initiative to rebrand their name to correlate with other Colorado universities. The school plans to change its name to “CU Colorado Springs” to follow the structure of other schools within the CU division: CU Boulder and CU Denver.
Fox21News said, “According to UCCS, as the university advances the Healthy Campus Initiative, they are taking the next step in looking into whether a shift from UCCS to CU Colorado Springs could enhance its long-term sustainability and market position.”
The name change has sparked controversy among UCCS and high school commits alike as the seemingly unfortunate acronym of CU Colorado Springs matches that of an inappropriate slang word in today’s youth. Liberty senior Jaiden Grunkemeyer , who recently committed to UCCS, stated, “[The change] will probably sway whether future students will or will not go… similar to how Pikes Peak State college switched from Pikes Peak Community College.”
Similarly, Liberty senior and UCCS commit Jaidyn Ritchie stated, “I honestly feel like UCCS just sounds better than CU Colorado Springs when you put everything else aside, but maybe this rebrand will help publicize the university more.”
While the name change holds the unfortunate acronym of a slang word used in society today, the change also has its advantages. Ritchie explained “ I’ve gotten a lot of comments about how UCCS just sounds like a ‘glorified community college’ … but maybe the rebrand will end up making it better by adopting it to the CU system.”
Others argue that the name change may not hold the significance many are assuming. Grunkemeyer stated, “The rebranding doesn’t directly affect me at all. I think it’s kind of funny actually.
Other compliments to the rebrand include a logo change, which would phase out the UCCS logo and replace it with the interlocking CU alongside the full university name or “Colorado Springs.” Ritchie agrees with this change as she said, “I feel like the logo change would be nice, but to me changing the name doesn’t seem necessary and can be controversial even if it doesn’t mean to be.”
While chatter over the unfortunate acronym to CU Colorado Springs is spreading, UCCS released a statement stating, “When initially referenced in writing, the university would be referred to University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, with additional references being CU Colorado Springs. There would be no shorthand acronym for CU Colorado Springs.”
