SGA challenges collegeâs nickname

Hundreds sign petition demanding ouster of ÎThe Metâ

By Perry Swanson
The Metropolitan

Metroâs Student Government Assembly launched a campaign Sept. 2 to try to get the administration to stop referring to the school as ãthe Met.ä

SGA set up a table Sept. 2-4 at the annual Fall Fest where they encouraged students to sign their petition. At press time, they had at least 420 signatures, said Karmin Trujillo, SGA president.

The student government will continue to collect signatures from Metro students for the next two weeks, then submit them to the administration with a request to stop using the nickname immediately.

ãTheyâre not going to be able to ignore us,ä said Sean Brailey, SGA vice president of Administration and Finance. ãWeâre going to keep pushing and pushing.ä

The nickname, ãThe Met,ä was a part of a marketing campaign started by Metro last spring. The name has been criticized by students since. One major objection  the SGA has with the moniker is that it seems to be a attempt to attract younger students with a hip-sounding name ÷ instead of the collegeâs academic merit.

ãI donât think it sounds like a school,ä said Jessie Bullock, SGA vice president of Student Fees.
Metro administrators donât see what the fuss is about. ãIf you donât like it, donât use it,ä said Metro spokeswoman Debbie Thomas.

The student government, however, explains its view in a statement at the top of its petition.

ãWe ... demand that any projects started in the future, with the function of creating a new image or moniker for the college, present a clear survey to at least 10 percent of the student body to illicit ideas and any final decisions reached by this project be presented to the student body for a vote of approval,ä it said.

Thomas said student government members were asked for their  input on the current marketing campaign, and they chose not to.

ãBack in December or January of last year, a number of people from campus were invited to a meeting where all of this was put on the table,ä she said.

 ãThe people who were then leading student government were invited to that, and they didnât come. There was an opportunity there for them to have participation and input.ä

Thomas said she would be willing to talk with students about the nickname, but said she doesnât understand the dislike for it.

ãI donât understand why that bothers so many people,ä she said. ãWeâre very comfortable referring to it as ÎMetroâ, but take away the Îrâ and the Îoâ and suddenly it becomes very terrible.

ãI have yet to grasp what it is about that three letter phrase that is so bothersome to people.ä

The larger issue, according to the SGA, is student representation on issues that affect the school.

ãThe whole process (of developing a marketing campaign) totally circumvented the student body,ä Brailey said.
 The nickname and marketing campaign, however, are not directed at students presently attending Metro, Thomas said. Both were designed to bring in new students.

ãWe based the decisions on a lot of market research we did, not so much with existing students but with people we know are considering (college),ä she said.

ãWe had to develop that campaign to better communicate with people who have not had a direct experience with (Metro). We do need to project an image that is urban, that is contemporary.ä