FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 24, 2008
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124
aperkins@pa.muw.edu

MUW Naming Committee seeks suggestions

COLUMBUS, Miss. – Mississippi University for Women wants you to help rename the university.

Anonymous suggestions for a new name can be submitted online at www.muw.edu/pie/name. The site can also be accessed from the MUW homepage, www.muw.edu.  Visitors will be asked to provide the following information:

• Name suggestion
• Rationale for the suggestion
• Connection to MUW (student, alumni, elected official, faculty/staff, etc.)

“The criteria should be reflective of who we are, take into consideration that we are a public institution with a public mission, honor the past and be marketable,” MUW President Claudia A. Limbert told the 30-member Naming Committee during its first meeting in September.

In addition to driving the future success of the university, the selection of the new name will be guided by the following statement outlined by a Naming Committee subcommittee: "To build a bridge between the school’s legacy and innovation while demonstrating its unique history and its contemporary role."

"We want as many voices as possible involved in this process. We're reaching out to alumni, faculty and students, businesses and other employers of graduates, elected officials, everyone we can to get input and ideas," explained Sue Jolly, chairperson of the Naming Committee. "The new name is not one person's idea but will be built on everyone's input."

Non-Internet uses may mail their suggestions to the MUW Naming Committee, 1100 College Street MUW-249, Columbus, MS 39701-5800. The online form will be available until Nov. 30.

The committee will develop a list of three unranked names with pros and cons for each. Those suggestions will be tested by a marketing firm.

A smaller committee, including the Faculty Senate president, Staff Council president, Student Government Association president, Alumni Association president, Alumnae Association president and the MUW Foundation Board of Directors chair, will recommend one of the names to Dr. Limbert for a decision and recommendation to the IHL Board and the Mississippi Legislature.

No time line has been established by the Naming Committee.