Pro Arguement

 

 By AJ Gunning

 

 There seem to be some students that are worried, or even insulted that Metro State College would consider changing its name to Denver State University.

Those that are worried fear it may confuse students, who live out of the state and hurt DUs enrollment. Though this seems a little ridiculousm, the University of Colorado and Colorado State University are similar, yet they are not confused nor intertwined with one another.

Furthermore, I’m sure that prospective students do a little more research on their college of choice than just looking at the name. And if there were to be any confusion that existed out of state, it would be immediately solved once the prospective student looked at each institution’s respective tuition. DU’s $49,000 compared to Metro’s $2,000 suggests not just a difference in schools but also in quality that no prospective student could mix up.

Those that are insulted that Metro would change their name to DSU need to come down from their high horse, because it’s not DU’s place to tell Metro what their new name should be. In addition, if they want to use DSU, that is their prerogative. It’s in no way insulting that Metro wants to try to increase its legitimacy, and it in no way affects the University of Denver.

Although DU is a slang term used by many Colorado locals to refer to our university, the official name is the University of Denver, and that is how it is referred to outside of Colorado. There are many schools across the country that can and do go by the name DU such as Duquesne University and Duke University.

As much as DU is a wonderful, local slang term, its popularity fades drastically once one leaves Denver. And outside of Denver the two schools will be known as the University of Denver and Denver State University. Hard to confuse those two names.

 

Con Argument

 

 

By Dylan Proietti

 

Two months ago, the Board of Trustees for the Metropolitan State College of Denver voted to officially change the name of their school to Denver State University.

Since that time, officials at the University of Denver have asked Metro to delay the name change. While some people might perceive that DU has no say in the matter, this issue is extremely important to our school.

Simply in terms of population, our school is fairly small – about 20 percent of the size of Metro. This fact, coupled with our status as a private institution, equates to DU losing, or at least taking a noticeable hit, in nationwide recognition as a school like the University of Colorado at Boulder or Colorado State University.

These schools, though they have similar names, are very distinct in the minds of people across the nation, unlike the University of Denver.

For that reason, if this name change were to take effect, it could have a serious impact on the differentiation between the University of Denver and Denver State University, but students that are living in Colorado won’t be greatly effect by the name change.

As for out-of-state students, this switch could cause a few more problems. Potential students could easily mix up DU and DSU, possibly being unsure of which school is which.

The probable confusion extends even further when one considers the somewhat recent discontinuation of DU e-mail accounts. With DU students using personal e-mail accounts and Metro students using @dsu.edu (or something similar), there exists potential problems when one considers online searches or social media use.

The fact remains that Metro has other options for a name change. Other names proposed included Metropolitan State University of Denver and the University of Central Colorado. Either of these names would offer a sufficient amount of distinction between the new name and the University of Denver.

Perhaps one of these names would be better suited to end any confusion that Metro’s name change to Denver State University might cause.