The Observer, February 22, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 18
Letters to the Editor: Branding overshadows positive changes
To the Editor:
Should I? Shouldn't I? Should I? Shouldn't I? After a long debate, I have chosen to respond to last week's anonymous piece lambasting the waste of time, energy, and money on a re-rebranding meant to unify the campus once and for all ["Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: The Woes of Branding," Feb. 15].
As I would be a senior this semester (graduating early is a treat, you should try it), I have undergone the same transition from CWRU to Case to Case Western Reserve as my anonymous counterpart. I've witnessed the hoopla. I've seen students glaze over with a begrudging apathy with every branding cycle. However, what I have not seen is someone that has just realized that it occurred. I felt I was in a majority who believed that these debates were long forgotten. But alas, when the fodder of bemoaning has run out, what does a resourceful Case student do? Why of course! Let's load up some old controversy and fire it at those "eight-year-old administrators" with their "advanced degrees" and "years of administrative experience."
That'll show 'em.
Moreover, I find it a fundamentally flawed argument that presents a disheartened senior demanding a refocused effort to improve campus morale. I would think a positive spin on things would have sufficed…"But Doug, a positive editorial?!?! That's blasphemy!" I know, I know. Sorry to even bring it up.
But I digress…
While the hypocrisy of my next statement is meant for humor, in all seriousness could we drop the rebranding conversation (and the ill-conceived idioms used to describe it) like a bad habit and move forward now? Yes, the school has changed since we received our first CWRU pamphlet in the mail. I would be disappointed if it hadn't. If 10 years post-graduation your retrospective is still somehow plagued by the word "rebranding," you clearly have overlooked a significant number of positive changes over the past four years. On behalf of those who have witnessed these positive trends in student life and campus morale, I'd like to thank those "eight-year-old administrators." For second graders, I'd say you're all doing pretty well.
Doug Bentley
CWRU Alumnus, 2008
