The Carbondale campus is known as Southern Illinois University Carbondale or SIUC, but some alumni have contacted officials asking for a change back to SIU.
Mike Ruiz, director of University Communications, said an alumni member contacted him about a month ago, asking how to propose a formal change from SIUC to SIU.
Because the Carbondale campus was the original site for the university as a whole, some believe the name of the campus should reflect that, Ruiz said.
Ruiz said the university has been known as SIUC for at least the 12 years he has been here, and any formal name change would need to have a convincing reason why, such as effects on recruitment or fundraising.
“It’s not enough basically to say ‘I prefer one over the other,’” Ruiz said. “I think in the current climate if you can’t show how you’re going to pay for it, or how it’s going to be paid for, and you can’t show a significant impact, then I doubt there’s going to be a lot of energy behind changing it.”
Ruiz said he advised the alumni member to see how many people are in support of the change, and then figure out the cost of such a change.
“The first question anyone’s going to ask right now … is how much is that going to cost?” Ruiz said. “Because there’s going to be signage costs, and there’s going to be licensing costs, and there’s going to be merchandise costs … and that can add up.”
Ruiz said another issue with changing SIUC to SIU would be how to refer to the university system as a whole. The Carbondale campus is just one part of the entire system, Ruiz said, which consists of the Edwardsville campus, the Springfield campus and programs in East St. Louis and Alton.
“A lot of people don’t think about the SIU system, they don’t really register that,” Ruiz said. “If you refer to this campus officially as Southern Illinois University, I can see where it would be a bit confusing as to when you’re referring to the campus in Carbondale and when you’re referring to the system.”
Ruiz said the Carbondale campus and the university system are separate marketing entities, which require distinction from each other.
Kierra Claiborne, a junior from Champaign studying communication disorders and sciences, said she doesn’t really care one way or the other about the name of the Carbondale campus.
“It doesn’t really affect anything,” Claiborne said. “I don’t even think there’s much of a difference.”
Donna Lay, a junior from Marion studying paralegal studies, said SIUC is the more recognizable name for the university. After living in southern Illinois for eight years, Lay said she’s realized most people in the area don’t recognize the university as anything but SIUC.
“So many people know it as SIUC,” Lay said. “Just keep it as it is; people have grown up with it.”
Victoria Valle, assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management, said she has supported marketing the university as Southern to potential students.
“I don’t really have a problem with the C in SIUC, I just usually don’t use it,” Valle said. “Anytime I refer to the university, I simply call it Southern.”
Ruiz said any decision to formally change the name of the campus would have to come from the SIU Board of Trustees.
Madeleine Leroux can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 254.
