Metro’s Board of Trustees selects name

By Kristy Chaparro and Brad Roudebush
Published: February 8, 2012

Jessica Wacker

Trustee Bill Hanzik speaks out in favor of the name change at the Feb. 2 Board of Trustees meeting in Baerrensen Ballroom in the Tivoli

After nearly three years, Metro has a prize name in sight

The more things change, the more they stay the same. This is especially true with the saga of Metro’s name change.

Metro’s Board of Trustees voted 6-3 in favor of a resolution to change Metropolitan State College of Denver to Metropolitan State University of Denver, Feb. 2.

The vote will serve as the catalyst for Sen. Lucia Guzman and Rep. Crisanta Duran, both D-Denver, to introduce the bill to fellow lawmakers. From there, the state legislature and Gov. John Hickenlooper must also approve the new name — hopefully allowing rebranding to begin in the 2012-2013 academic year.

“I see no reason why somewhere around July 1, we shouldn’t be celebrating a name change for Metropolitan State University [of Denver],” Metro President Stephen Jordan said.

The name change discussion began three years ago. The board extensively considered the political, legal, marketing, branding and communications aspects of a potential name change this past year. Metro representatives met with the University of Denver five times due to objections to various names being considered.

“There’s no question that this has elicited a lot of passion,” Jordan said. “It has, I think, really brought to the forefront how important this institution is to so many people in the Denver metropolitan area.”

After meetings in December and January, the representatives for both institutions had developed a contractual coexistence agreement.

According to Cathy Lucas, Metro associate vice president of communications and advancement, the agreement will be made public only after it has passed through the state legislature.

In a letter obtained by The Metropolitan, DU Chancellor Robert D. Coombe told University of Denver alumni the coexistence agreement could serve as a solution to trademark issues.

Terrance Carroll, who has been on the board since March 2011, supports the name change.

“I think it will have a great impact in a positive way on Metro State,” Carroll said. “It will finally be a public acknowledgement of what Metro has become: a full-service, four-year institution.”

Carroll believes Metro will soon be recognized as one of the premier, urban higher education institutions in the country.

Trustee Melody Harris, a DU alumnus, voted against the name change citing the addition of a coexistence agreement between Metro and DU.

“The coexistence agreement before us significantly limits what we can do with our brand. I’m telling you this because I’ve lived this. I’ve litigated this. This was my career,” said Harris, former president of Bad Boy Brands International.

“We have not, as a board, taken in any of the appropriate information around what we are agreeing to with the University of Denver. We are being driven by a political decision instead of what I think is the best interest of this institution,” she said.

If the coexistence agreement limits how Metro is able to brand itself, Metro assistant professor of English Vincent Piturro agrees with Harris.

“[The coexistence agreement] makes us a joke,” Piturro said. “We are the largest state university, and we have to do what a private institution tells us to do? It’s a joke. If we have to approve everything we do through the University of Denver, we aren’t looking out for the best interests of our students — we are looking out for DU’s students’ best interests.”

Jordan acknowledged not everyone would be pleased with the outcome.

“Like with all agreements, there is something there for everybody to hate,” Jordan said. “But when it’s all said and done, this agreement will give to each one of [Metro’s students] the recognition [they] have earned by what [they] have done over the course of the last 46 years.”

Metro Student Government Assembly Sen. Jeffery Washington spoke in favor of the name Denver State University.

Washington doesn’t think changing the name to MSUD will do much for the reputation of the school. He didn’t want the word ‘metropolitan’ in the new name because he believes it is closely associated with many community colleges.

Although Robert Cohen, Board of Trustees chairman, voted ‘no,’ he said the name change could be positive.

“I think it elevates the status of the degree and what we’re doing,” Cohen said. “This whole process has brought light to what’s going on at Metro and how important it is to the community as a whole.”

After the vote, Cohen asked the board and students to unite behind the decision that best served the institution.

“Like any democratic process, it’s bloody and messy, but it works,” Cohen said.

Tags: Board of Trustees, MSUD, name change, University of Denver