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Thoughts on UA Rename


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Thoughts on renaming UA?

1. Must be a joke.

2. One of the most asinine things I've read in ages.

My thoughts exactly. The school's not exactly in the dumps or going bankrupt. Changing the name of a university is a big damn deal and, I would imagine, require a re-chartering of the school and all sorts of legal issues.

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If they changed the name to Akron University way too many people in and around the city wouldn't even notice.

LOL...so true.

Were we ever officially "Akron University" in the past before we became "The University of Akron"? I'm not even sure if any of that is official, and I don't see a name change on this list.

I know that I personally still have an "AKRON UNIVERSITY" shirt from the early 80s.

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LOL...so true.

Were we ever officially "Akron University" in the past before we became "The University of Akron"? I'm not even sure if any of that is official, and I don't see a name change on this list.

I know that I personally still have an "AKRON UNIVERSITY" shirt from the early 80s.

Scroll down at: http://www.uakron.edu/about_ua/quick_facts.dot

  • 1870: The institution now known as The University of Akron was founded as Buchtel College by the Ohio Universalist Convention
  • 1872: Buchtel College opened its doors to 46 collegiate students, 171 preparatory students and seven faculty members
  • 1873: Buchtel College produces the first graduate
  • 1880: The first master's degree was awarded
  • 1913: Trustees transfer Buchtel College's assets to the city of Akron, creating the Municipal University of Akron
  • 1926: Trustees change the institution's name to The University of Akron
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I know that I personally still have an "AKRON UNIVERSITY" shirt from the early 80s.

No. THE University of Akron has never officially been Akron University. Now I've heard that _________________ (fill in the blank) University was a popular trend decades ago when refering to any University, regardless if it was the official name or not. At least it was in Tennessee where my mom and Aunt went :tomato:

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No. THE University of Akron has never officially been Akron University. Now I've heard that _________________ (fill in the blank) University was a popular trend decades ago when refering to any University, regardless if it was the official name or not. At least it was in Tennessee where my mom and Aunt went :tomato:

Well, that explains the old "Akron University" shirt that I have. Thanks. I actually never remember if that was an old official name or not.

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Skip, the reason I called the Wikipedia list partial despite its large size is because I didn't seen Akron or a few other schools I know have had name changes over the years on the list.

You know, when you think about the way words and phrases are being shortened these days, it makes longer formal names like The University of Akron seem kind of clunky. The "The" and "of" just take up space. Using "The" at the start of a company name like The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is straight out of the early 1900s. Can you imagine The Microsoft Company, The Apple Company or The Amazon Company? Akron University, or Akron U, does make a lot more sense in the less formal modern world, especially for those who do a lot of texting or tweeting. I have no inside information that Akron University is one of the new name candidates, but I wouldn't be surprised if it made the long list.

As I said earlier, a name study may end up showing that The University of Akron makes more sense than any of the alternatives. Really, any name change would be the final step in whatever structural change might take place. If there are no major changes in structure or philosophy at UA, there might be no need to consider a name change, and clear benefits would need to be shown in any case..

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... Scarborough is supposed to have played a part in Toledo absorbing the Medical College of Ohio.

Here's the exact timeline: UT and the Medical University of Ohio merged in 2006 while Dr. Scarborough was still at DePaul University. Dr. Scarborough was hired by UT in 2007 as Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration / CFO for both UT and the UT Medical Center. In 2010 he was given the added responsibility of Executive Director of the UTMC and was responsible for the overall management and operations of the UTMC’s hospitals and outpatient clinics. So he certainly has experience with both the academic and medical communities, primarily from the financial aspect.

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Here's the exact timeline: UT and the Medical University of Ohio merged in 2006 while Dr. Scarborough was still at DePaul University.

The Toledo fans I talked a while back to made it sound like he had more to do with it.

They also didn't like him or the recently hired administrators from UT very much. I don't see why, since UTMC seems to have done fairly well.

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Zach, it would be interesting to know exactly why they didn't like Dr. Scarborough and the administrators he's brought over from UT. Generally speaking, academic-oriented people don't care much for financial guys, who tend to ask hard questions about how money is being spent. It takes a good balance of academic guys and financial guys to make a university run efficiently and effectively, and the tension between the two can create animosity about things that really needed to be done one way or another.

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That fits in with the research I did when Dr. Scarborough was first mentioned as a candidate. He took heat from the academic community at both DePaul and Toledo while delivering good results on the financial side. It's the eternal battle between academics and economics in higher education. Ideally you'd hope that he's become wiser with age and experience and has learned that a good balance between the two is what a university president is responsible for delivering.

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My thoughts exactly. The school's not exactly in the dumps or going bankrupt. Changing the name of a university is a big damn deal and, I would imagine, require a re-chartering of the school and all sorts of legal issues.

Good point. Just think of the costs to change the name on everything.

This is stupid, and the topic bothers me....but hey, it's getting people to post lol.

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Well, that explains the old "Akron University" shirt that I have. Thanks. I actually never remember if that was an old official name or not.

If you bought it in the 80's/90's at the school bookstore there's a good chance it's green or red or aqua.

Man that place had the worst merchandise ever!

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I think this is great idea. The new name is obvious to me. "Buchtel University". I have thought about this previously. I don't think it's that big of a deal as far as the cost. It will takes us back to the future. We can still be the zips. And the word “Buchtel” has a sense of strength/power to it. I am all for it.

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I think this is great idea. The new name is obvious to me. "Buchtel University". I have thought about this previously. I don't think it's that big of a deal as far as the cost. It will takes us back to the future. We can still be the zips. And the word “Buchtel” has a sense of strength/power to it. I am all for it.

If you grew up in Akron in the 50's "Buchtel" might have some positives associated with it.... I can only think of a few other names that would be worse, and they would get me banned on here.

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