Monday, August 18. 2008

UMass with our without geographic reference?

Faculty and alumnae of UMass are hopeful the a new chancellor, Robert Holub will consider removing the Amherst from the main campus' name: University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The school has several other sites: Boston, Worcester (Med Center), Dartmouth and Lowell. The idea is to make the flagship campus more "flaghshippy," raise the profile, make it seem less of a commuter school, and bring more resources. Those on the other side suggest that having the geographic references makes all the campuses equal. They are not, of course, since you can only study medicine in Worcester. The other issue, for me, a long time Baystater, is that Amherst is way far away from the center of the Massachusetts population and action: Boston. That's fine; I think it's great to get students out of the city so they are not distracted (State College, PA anyone?)

I just don't want anyone from out of state thinking they are coming to Boston if they attend the main campus. Alas, Amherst is not as famous at State College. Besides, college names offer a great way to learn geography. As kid I had to look up this odd place called Miami of Ohio. And I love that there's UNC-Chapel Hill; what a nice mental picture. And, I've learned that it's the University of Alabama in (not at, no hyphen) Huntsville. No, keep the Amherst.

- Boston Globe

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