MWW

(Isabella Diaz-Mira | Student Life)

Chancellor Martin announced, through an email on Aug. 6,  the University’s rebrand from Washington University in St. Louis to “WashU,” and unveiled a refreshed logo with the goal of distinguishing WashU from its peers — but what does this change mean for students? 

For the time being, students are adjusting to the new visuals and technology now tied to WashU, and while some see the rebrand as an opportunity for WashU to gain name recognition, others question how much name recognition matters. 

For sophomore and WUSA Sydney Coleman, the rebrand initially led to technical difficulties during her WUSA training.

“I was in training for WUSA and they’d have a link and [say], ‘This link might not work next week because of rebranding this Friday, so you might just have to click something else to get there.’”

Coleman is now concerned that these navigational issues will worsen as more websites are updated. 

Websites are one of the many aspects of WashU that are now in flux. Student ID cards were updated to accompany the WashU rebrand and have been met with varied reactions.

“I like our old IDs better with the picture of the building,” Coleman said. “I think it gives it character. It’s not bad-looking, but I think our old IDs are better.”

However, this change goes beyond technical and visual adjustments. First-year Anna Schwartz said that, to her, this rebrand is about making a name for WashU.

“People get [WashU] confused with University of Washington, and as we’re trying to become a more notable school, [‘WashU’ is] easier to remember,” Schwartz said. 

Schwartz noted that many students in her area don’t apply to WashU since it lacks name recognition.

“I’m from Atlanta, so a lot of people didn’t know where I was going, and a lot of people didn’t even bother applying,” Schwartz said. “The more people [that] know, the better.” 

Schwartz said she considered name recognition and ranking when picking a school, but that in the end, it did not dictate her decision. 

“[Rankings] definitely helped during the college search, but I decided to go here instead of more prestigious schools, so, in the end, it didn’t matter.” 

In some ways, name recognition and rankings are intertwined as a fifth of a university’s overall ranking in U.S. News and World Report — a ranking in which WashU dropped from 15th to 24th last year — as rankings depend on peer assessments from other academic institutions.

Some students — such as first-year Niu Niu Zhang — do not view name recognition as necessary.

“Even if I were to tell people that I went to Washington University in St. Louis and they thought I was going to Washington, I could just explain it to them,” Zhang said. “I don’t feel the need to separate ourselves too much.”

To some, the change left more to be desired. For sophomore Luca Pryor, the new logo and changes do not encapsulate WashU.

“The original logo had aura,” he said.