I was saddened – but of course not surprised - to read that the Board of Trustees of the University of Connecticut has changed the name of my alma mater to "UConn." The University of Connecticut was pressured by marketing strategies and Nike, which supplies the uniforms.
I believe Nike also introduced red into our traditional blue and white colors years ago. I doubt if Yale would alter its blue and white colors if Nike came calling!
Is there something bad about the word “Connecticut” that we have not only done away with the state seal from UConn’s seal in 1999 (replacing it with some oak leaves), but have relegated the name of the state to the second line?
After all, who owns and pays for the university? Oops! I forgot! If Nike gives just a little bit more, over time, we’ll have a Nike dorm. The name of Harriet Beecher Stowe was ditched from a dorm years ago and never replaced. But who cares?
With any luck, Nike will give us even more bucks and then we can name the whole university after it, but fortunately my diploma will still read “The University of Connecticut,” not “UConn, the University of Connecticut” or “Nike University.”
Are any of the trustees alumni? It seems that Nike is really so powerful that it has manipulated the name change of our largest university for marketing reasons. What reasons? To sell more T-shirts in other parts of the country? Nike can still sell “UConn” T shirts without manipulating the university into changing its name. I am so disgusted with the so-called trustees.
Anita Bologna
Waterbury