We always called it Akron U growing up. It was an informal term of endearment, actually. I’ve gotten away from calling it that just because I know a lot of ppl don’t like it. But whenever talking about the school I always say “Akron,” and never the full (formal) The University of Akron.
In fact, when we’d play touch football in someone’s back yard, instead of counting “One Mississippi, two Mississippi…” we’d count, “One Akron U, two Akron U…etc.”