Quote:
Originally Posted by MysticCat
Right. Northwestern never referred to the part of the state it is in, which is what I think of when I think "directional school." It never referred to a direction at all. It was named for the former Northwest Territory.
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So now I've learned something today. Can I go home now?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Low C Sharp
I like the Virginia system of naming each school, other than its research flagship, after prominent person/s or concepts rather than locations. It allows each public school to build a unique brand, and none of them is marked as a particular tier due to being "directional." True, you can't tell from the name that James Madison University is located in Harrisonburg, but most of these schools serve an in-state market anyway, and in-state students already know or they can figure it out easily.
I think it would be great for the directionals in Illinois to become Abraham Lincoln U., Adlai Stevenson U., Jane Addams U....but nobody asked me, and I'm sure many alumni are attached to the existing names.
We can add Northwestern University to University of Southern California as another elite private exception to the rule that directions hurt prestige. Both schools are older than the oldest public schools in their respective cities.
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No one wants to go to Adlai Stevenson U. Just ain't happening. And I can't see SIUC/E, EIU, WIU, or alternately ISU giving up their names. They're well known for different things and would lose a lot of identity that way. I haven't seen a lot of pressure for that sort of change here either, but I'm not attending one of them so I don't know.