This is a quasi-right decision based on a really bad macro decision thanks to an incompetent and compromised president. You can’t have split branding.
Our branding is horrific. Anyone in the Jones business school could tell you that. But what this does is likely cements that we will never change the name.
Someone once asked me if the name change is such a big deal then why hasn’t it worked for North Texas. Well, the results are now finally in. UNT wasn’t the one that got left behind in the Sun Belt (the first time). UNT wasn’t the one that got left behind in C-USA. Really that’s all you need to know. And even when I did the study 20 years ago UNT was already ahead of us in many areas. It just didn’t look like it yet. When I worked so hard for this, being the U of MT wasn’t about an overnight switch being flipped. It was a movement to position MT for the future - for the next generation thereby enhancing the degree value of the previous generations. Which is exactly what’s happened at UNT and why they are in a better position than us, have better facilities, have higher academic rankings, raise more money, and have a much larger endowment.
But those who fought me/it couldn’t see that. They lacked vision. They lacked understanding about how not every decision, every change is about making an immediate impact.
This is McPhee’s legacy and failure. Instead of taking Dr. Walkers vision and making it his own and adding to it he’s basically kept us in place for two decades. Dr. McPhee you have failed us - all of those who are at this school now and those who came before.