Beaver College to Change Name to Arcadia University By SCOTT STREET
Beaver College announced Monday that it will change its name to Arcadia University, a move that the institution's officials hope will reverse the trend of declining enrollment they attributed to the old name.
"We're no longer an undergraduate liberal-arts college," said President Bette E. Landman, emphasizing that the college's old name didn't reflect its growing number of postgraduate programs.
Officials at the institution were also eager for the institution to stop being the butt of jokes from late-night television comedians like David Letterman and Conan O'Brien. In a letter written earlier in the year, Ms. Landman said that the name "too often elicits ridicule in the form of derogatory remarks pertaining to the rodent, the TV show 'Leave It to Beaver' and the vulgar reference to the female anatomy." That wasn't the only problem. The college's own research showed that Beaver College appealed to 30 percent fewer students simply because of its name. And its Web site was receiving fewer hits since some would-be visitors were thwarted by Internet filters designed to block access to sexually explicit material.
While ending the mockery wasn't a primary concern in renaming the college, Ms. Landman said, it was an added benefit. "I've been a Beaver for 30 years and I thought we had transcended that," she said.
The process of renaming the college began last year, when officials started surveying 22,000 students, alumni, and others in the community for suggestions on a new name. The officials chose Arcadia from among some 400 recommendations. The new name refers to the ancient Greek region where, Ms. Landman said, free expression and open dialogue were commonplace -- a model for the university.
College officials wanted a name "that resonated with the types of values we have at this institution," Ms. Landman said, adding that she was surprised that Arcadia wasn't already taken.
The name change aside, the Beaver in Beaver College won't go away entirely. Because of fondness for the original name, Ms. Landman said the undergraduate college of Arcadia University will be called the Beaver College of Undergraduate Studies. It just won't be on anyone's diploma.
Or any top-10 lists, for that matter.