If our school wore a nametag, what would it say? “University of Maryland?” “The University of Maryland?” “The University of Maryland, College Park?” Maybe if the school were in a chummy mood and wanted to be a bit less formal, the nametag would say “UM” or “UMD.” Or would it say ”UMCP?” Is it “Terrapin,” or “Terp?” What about me? Do I go to school at “Maryland?” Or is it “Maryland, in College Park?”
These are important questions. A person’s name is an essential part of his or her identity. Likewise, an organization’s name is an essential component of an organization’s identity (also known as “brand,” in marketing parlance). Does an organization that doesn’t know its own name even have an identity?
Officially, we do know our name. The university’s communications office has a style guide for the media and is intended to “achieve greater consistency when reporting about the University of Maryland, and ultimately reduce public confusion.” Perfect. The guide explains how to appropriately reference the university, and it provides background information on the University System of Maryland.
For example, the guide states that, when abbreviating, “UM would be appropriate, but not UMCP.” So there you have it: “UM” is the abbreviation. But the communications office’s Twitter feed (@UMDNews) doesn’t use the abbreviation “UM.” Shoot, look at the name on the account – it uses “UMD” right there. Worse, it isn’t even consistent. Some tweets utilize the #UMD hashtag. Others use #UMD and #UMCP. Some inexplicably use #UMD, #UMCP and #TERPS, all in the same message. Even university President Wallace Loh’s official Twitter account (@presidentloh) uses the different hashtags interchangeably.
This school faces unique challenges because we are the flagship institution of a 12-member university system serving the entire state. As the guide states, “for any organization, achieving recognition and respect for its name and identity is a goal of paramount importance. As the University of Maryland moves to establish its position among the nation’s top public research universities, the gravity of this issue has become acutely apparent.”
I agree with everything in that paragraph. But the communications office doesn’t seem to recognize the points made in its own document. What the hell is going on? Does the communications office have a communications problem? Other schools in the university system may not appreciate it, but we need to differentiate ourselves from them. Not a single elite public university has problems distinguishing itself from feeder institutions; Ohio State University even goes so far as to call itself The Ohio State University, lest anyone require clarification.
A top-tier public institution should be synonymous with the state it belongs to: Virginia. North Carolina. Michigan. By calling ourselves anything other than Maryland we open ourselves to doubt: University of Maryland, College Park sounds like a feeder school of some larger, more prominent institution. In 1997, the state attempted to address the issue when it determined only University of Maryland, College Park and University of Maryland, Baltimore could call themselves simply, “University of Maryland.” They claim because the Baltimore school is primarily a graduate institution, confusion would be minimized.
But it seems obvious confusion reigns. This school should be the only institution known as University of Maryland. There are eight states that start with the letter “M,” so the abbreviation should be “UMD.” The guide is correct when it mentions the importance of building a brand — this is one focus of Loh’s trip to China — but how can we sell our brand to others when we can’t even sell it to ourselves?
Christopher Haxel is a senior English major. He can be reached at haxel at umdbk dot com.
