Colorado Mesa University? Are you kidding me?

Colorado Mesa University was selected as the new name of Mesa State College by the Board of Trustees, subject to Colorado General Assembly approval. I am not impressed, as the name sounds more like an Internet program or one with an unnatural sequence of words.

My concerns are still valid, though at this stage irrelevant. The formula implemented for selecting a name was mathematically geared to produce the two finalists, as those were the only names which met the three-tier test of the naming criteria – heritage, geographic anchor, and brand equity and clarity. Just because you find a name or two which match the test, does not mean that name sounds like a good brand name.

During the survey period of the selection process I took part in the online survey and recall reading through the names of potential names and felt Colorado Mesa University sound like a lesser value than the rest, so was surprised when the Board selected it as the finalist. In my personal opinion, could the Board have chosen a weirder sounding name? Perhaps a different order of the words would sound more natural to the ears.

I mentioned the name to several of my colleagues here at the University of Edinburgh and they concurred that the name sounded more like a cheesy Internet “university” or fictitious location linked to Mesa Verde, rather than a lauded institution of higher education. Perhaps these are merely initial impressions which will fade as the institution rebrands and remarkets its image. Noting the history of Mesa State, it seems name changes happen rather frequently, so perhaps in 20 or 30 years the brand name and image will need tweaking once again to reflect its status as a research facility or specialist institution or perhaps the bequeathing of a substantial sum from a generous benefactor.

Perhaps my logic is wrong, but I find it difficult that the finalists from the surveys of stakeholders was thought flawed as their choices did not conform to the three-tier test established for selecting a name. It is too bad Mesa didn't have a name like Harvard, as then that way the only change could have been deleting the word college and replacing it with university. That said, if such a criteria had been used when Harvard made their name change a while ago, then it would have been something like Massachusetts Harvard University, so everyone would recognize the institution by the state name. Basically Mesa is wanting to ride the brand name of "Colorado", so that when surveys are done in Texas and California of potential students who have heard of the institution, a higher number will say yes, as they recognize the name Colorado and thus assume they have heard of the university.