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Like a summer bride contemplating maiden and married names, Mary Washington College hasn't made any decisions about subtitles as its university launch date approaches, officials say.
"We're sort of up in the air," said Ranny Corbin, executive assistant to the president at MWC.
Officially, the school's state-recognized name will become University of Mary Washington on July 1, the day all new Virginia laws go into effect.
Whether the Fredericksburg campus will be called Mary Washington College at UMW is undetermined--along with what will appear on campus signs, student diplomas, admission materials and letterhead.
Will MWC remain dominant or be used with a hyphen?
College officials say they are waiting to hear from marketing firm Barton, Matheson, Willse & Worthington before making a decision. The Baltimore-based company was hired this spring to design a new graphic identity for the university.
Until then, Corbin said, any discussion of campus names is premature.
"It's just not out there," she said.
When asked if eliminating Mary Washington College as the name for the Fredericksburg campus is an option being considered by the marketing firm, Martin Wilder, vice president for enrollment at MWC, said no.
"What they're trying to give us is some advice on how to publicly portray the institution," Wilder said. "So they'll be making recommendations about how we use 'university,' and when we use the component pieces of the university in how we present the institution."
The ultimate decision over how to represent the institution on signs and documents will rest with MWC President William Anderson and the college board of visitors, Wilder said.
Still, "'Mary Washington College' is not being eliminated or anything like that," he said. "It's just how do you best portray the institution."
BMW&W staff spent several days on campus in the spring, interviewing students, faculty and alumni.
The company has created logos and graphics for many state colleges and universities, as well as most Ivy League schools.
The firm is narrowing its top choices, Wilder said.
Results of the firm's MWC work are expected sometime over the summer, Corbin said, and may or may not arrive before the July 1 switchover date.
"This is too important, too big to rush. We want to do it right," Corbin said.
In the past, college officials have stated that University of Mary Washington would simply be an umbrella name, linking MWC and the James Monroe Center for Graduate and Professional Studies, and that the liberal arts college in Fredericksburg would retain its title.
"Throughout the process of moving to university status, we, as a board and an institution, have promised that the transition will not tamper with the name, tradition, or quality of Mary Washington College," wrote Dori Eglevsky, outgoing rector of the college board of visitors, in a Jan. 23 Free Lance-Star op-ed column. "In fact, the driving force behind this decision has been to ensure that Mary Washington College does not become lost as the James Monroe Center rapidly grows in size and scope."
Last fall, college administrators and the name committee emphasized that the new university name was an addition, not a change. They said at the time that MWC would become Mary Washington College of the university, and JMC would become James Monroe College of the university.
In a 1999 Free Lance-Star story about choosing a new university name, it was stressed that MWC would retain its college title regardless of an umbrella name.
"One model is the College of William & Mary," said Ron Singleton, MWC's vice president for college relations at the time. "It has evolved into a university, but kept its college name."
The top priority in choosing campus names and new graphics is preparing admission materials for prospective students, Corbin and Wilder said.
The press deadline for the fall's admission materials is June 30.
"We'd like to recruit them to the University of Mary Washington," Corbin said.
Otherwise, she said, people won't notice a rollout of the university name and campus names until students return.
"Other than our prospective-students mailing, most of what happens here really gears up for the next academic year at the end of August," she said.
There was uncertainty over who will see the firm's work first.
Corbin thought it would likely go to a four-member, unnamed committee that oversaw the bidding process for the marketing firm. That panel consists of Corbin; Wilder; Ron Singleton, now senior vice president for advancement and college relations; and Richard Hurley, executive vice president and chief financial officer.
But Wilder said results would likely go to President Anderson, then to the college board of visitors.
"Either way, everything will end up with the board of visitors," Corbin said. That panel is a 12-member body charged by the state with overseeing operations of the school, although it falls under control of the General Assembly.
"We certainly would share it with the board," Corbin said. "We work closely with the board."
To reach KELLY HANNON: 540/374-5436 khannon@freelancestar.com