Last month, Loyola College in Baltimore announced that they were considering a name change to Loyola University. Notwithstanding the confusion that would occur with the three existing Loyola Universities, Loyola College's decision appears shortsighted. The Baltimore institution of higher learning "believes the change would better reflect the work it is doing today," adding that "Loyola is already considered a comprehensive university by many groups."
The ever-helpful Dictionary.com tells us that a college is "an institution of higher learning, especially one providing a general or liberal arts education rather than technical or professional training." Just as we are proud to attend Dartmouth College rather than Dartmouth University because of this emphasis on liberal arts, Loyola College would be turning its back on its original mission if it were to change its name.
Sometimes a name is more than just a name. Schools like Dartmouth and Boston College maintain this liberal arts identity in the face of a general trend towards specialization because their name suggests the breadth of their education.
One column in the Baltimore Sun ("No need for Loyola College to change its name," Apr. 1), invokes the ideas of Sarah Susanka, author of the "Not So Big House" series of books: "Big houses let the families inside have enough space that they can go for long periods without seeing or interacting with each other ... the attached garages in bigger homes let owners come and go without getting to know their neighbors through casual front yard conversations."
Just as Burt Bacharach and Hal David once wrote, "A house is not a home," a university -- despite the name's connotations of grandeur -- is not a college. Loyola's own website states that while "Loyola is classified as a university," it "retains the name 'college' to emphasize the nature of the academic community -- a close-knit, student-focused living and learning environment." The change may not be the first step to a broader change in Loyola College's mission, but it is at least a move in that direction.
As often as we, Dartmouth College, deal with our own identity issues, we are first and foremost, even more so than Loyola, a college. We are not, as President James Wright has said, "a university in all but name." In Wright's defense, he has also said, "But the name is important and it is one we embrace." The name, however, is more than just a symbol. The idea that we attend a college and not a university is what drew a good many of us here. Our dormitories and our classrooms are, for the most part, small and intimate. Virtually every (if not every) professor in an undergraduate topic teaches students from all backgrounds and majors, and while Tuck, Thayer and the Dartmouth Medical School exist, they do not change our College's fundamental identity.
One guest column published on April 1 in The Loyola Greyhound, Loyola's campus newspaper, states: "The proposed change has a depressing whiff of inferiority about it. This name switch is the educational equivalent of wearing lifts or a toupee. It fools no one and does little to change our school 'image.'" Another letter to the editor stated that the change seemed more representative of a broader shift at Loyola College -- the disappearance of "the small liberal arts institution where faculty knew students well, and the small community allowed for cross-pollination of many disciplines."
I must admit I find it disingenuous when alumni claim that Dartmouth is losing its moorings as a "college" and floating dangerously into the realm of "university." The institution I matriculated to and still attend is most certainly a college, and were it Dartmouth University, it would then be a college in all but name.
With just over one year left under President Wright's stewardship, let us make sure our next president is committed to the long-term success of Dartmouth College. Despite his occasional statements to the contrary, President Wright has shown himself committed to the college experience rather than the university one. The last word in our title is both symbolic and representative of our experiences here in Hanover, and it is crucial to the experience future students will have. Let us be committed to the College's mission, and let us continue to remember that we proudly attend an undergraduate-centered, liberal arts"focused institution. Save the university for grad school.
