La Louisiane morphing into "at Lafayette" Magazine

[BlueDawg]

No it was no mistake but I often wonder why the University of South Louisiana wasn't seriously considered. I guess the same schools that blocked UL wouldn't have like that name either.

I agree....South La would've been much better & distinctive. But whatever, y'all have a lot of momentum right now & a good coach. This season will be a really good one for Cajun fans. Damn football season can't come soon enough! Any word on future USA expansion from summer meetings?....I haven't heard a peep.

[RCAJUN90]

You cant push "University of Louisiana" brand. For academics its always been UL Lafayette. For athletics its just "Louisiana"

Keep winning and growing in football and all will be good.

[timlan2057]

Oh brother.

I posted this same thing on my facebook page and a very prominent student leader replied:

"Legally, however, we are not the only University of Louisiana. The university legally cannot promote that title due to a lawsuit."

Our students do not understand the difference in "branding" and official names.

Furthermore, they are sufficiently cowed by LSUAMCBR that we should "keep our place."

Therein lies the problem. A message board and a few other fans will not be sufficient to do the marketing and branding when the university's public relations department is marketing a local, provincial moniker and the student leadership doesn't know the difference.

There are a ton of orientations going on and every new freshman has "UL Lafayette" pounded into their head.

I suggested that "Battle for a Name" be read at every orientation session ... obviously from the evidence, that won't fly.

[AirBill]

OK, trying to correct a major thread drift ...

Given that the reason for abandoning Southwestern was a desire to get away from directional names, wouldn't "South Louisiana" be doing essentially the same thing? I always wondered if the University of Acadiana would have been a better choice. We really would have stood out in a crowd and separated ourselves from the rest of the state. No possibility of a lawsuit, no alphabet soup. Just a simple, elegant name that says everything about who we are.

Oh well, it's nice to think about.

[BabbForHeisman]

Back to the point of the thread...

When I got the La Louisiane in the mail and saw the cover story, I thought for sure that it would be about our move to drop the 's and become the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns. That's really the only significant branding effort we have made recently. That's the only thing the article could be about, right? Wrong.

The message could be very simple. We attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The athletic teams are Louisiana.

Everyone who posts on this board knows that. The general public? 5% know that. Maybe 8% on a good day.

This was an opportunity to deliver that message, and it was not delivered.

[Boomer]

Back to the point of the thread...

When I got the La Louisiane in the mail and saw the cover story, I thought for sure that it would be about our move to drop the 's and become the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns. That's really the only significant branding effort we have made recently. That's the only thing the article could be about, right? Wrong.

The message could be very simple. We attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The athletic teams are Louisiana.

Everyone who posts on this board knows that. The general public? 5% know that. Maybe 8% on a good day.

This was an opportunity to deliver that message, and it was not delivered.

----GREAT POST--On the money---Same old crap!!! At least put some quotes by fans/students/ profs/ anybody saying Louisiana or just UL----So prim and proper----Damn I hate this when you are always trying not to do anything improper instead of realizing that you have been screwed and take aggressive steps to get around it with quotes saying UL!!!! This and other creative journalism could make this happen!!!

[CajunNation]

....I always wondered if the University of Acadiana would have been a better choice. We really would have stood out in a crowd and separated ourselves from the rest of the state. No possibility of a lawsuit, no alphabet soup. Just a simple, elegant name that says everything about who we are.

Oh well, it's nice to think about.

You are 1000% correct.

My point has always been that this university lacked the will and political power to ever brand itself as THE Louisiana Ragin Cajuns. "South" is still an improvement over SW, and it "fits" with similar schools, North Texas, South Florida, East Carolina.

BUT, what you said would have been the ideal option. The University of Acadiana would have lent itself absolutely wonderful branding opportunities.

It's simple, distinctive, and is completely tied in with the region and the culture. The Acadiana region could easily survive as its own state. I don't look as that name as a "step down" from UL-Lafayette. I look at it as a Nation of people proclaiming their existence in a university manner.

We used to do this several years ago. When I was a student in the early 90's, there were some Universite des Acadiens T-shirts available.

Can you imagine the number of Acadiana flags that would be flying for Tailgating?

University of Acadiana is a complete embracing of our Cajun Heritage. More than Ragin Cajuns ever will.


I've ALWAYS looked at the UL-city tag name change option as a complete waste of time and energy. I'm still waiting to be proven wrong on that one.

[timlan2057]

"Acadiana" would have been a nice, clean branding, indeed. The Acadiana Cajuns--sounds beautiful and something those even those idiotic ESPN announcers could handle.

What a muddle this "Louisiana-Lafayette/UL Lafayette/UL" name chaos is. We have no coherent policy on branding with public realtions, students, athletics and alumni all on different pages.

I got this further admonishment from a student leader:

"I understand that, personally, you don't like the branding decision of the Communications and Marketing department. Regardless, a name doesn't change the credibility of the university, and if the name was really hindering the university from marketing to students then I'm sure there would be a push for the name to change. We also have a University of Louisiana at Monroe, and I'm sure many of its students and alumni feel as though they should be the University of Louisiana. Ultimately, it is a decision that will be decided regardless of what you or I think. As a UL Lafayette student leader, it is our duty to support the decisions that the university makes and be an ambassador for the university."

Isn't that great?

Our students are being indoctrinated into being good little sheeple who know that we must "keep our place" as a directional, sub-regional university.

I'm sure this makes the dolts about 50 miles east of here happy.

[Hammer58]

"Acadiana" would have been a nice, clean branding, indeed. The Acadiana Cajuns--sounds beautiful and something those even those idiotic ESPN announcers could handle.

What a muddle this "Louisiana-Lafayette/UL Lafayette/UL" name chaos is. We have no coherent policy on branding with public realtions, students, athletics and alumni all on different pages.

I got this further admonishment from a student leader:

"I understand that, personally, you don't like the branding decision of the Communications and Marketing department. Regardless, a name doesn't change the credibility of the university, and if the name was really hindering the university from marketing to students then I'm sure there would be a push for the name to change. We also have a University of Louisiana at Monroe, and I'm sure many of its students and alumni feel as though they should be the University of Louisiana. Ultimately, it is a decision that will be decided regardless of what you or I think. As a UL Lafayette student leader, it is our duty to support the decisions that the university makes and be an ambassador for the university."

Isn't that great?

Our students are being indoctrinated into being good little sheeple who know that we must "keep our place" as a directional, sub-regional university.

I'm sure this makes the dolts about 50 miles east of here happy.

That student "leader" sounds like a future spineless politician. who give a ____ what the morons at moanroe think? God, what a bunch of _______ our citizens have become.

[Boomer]

All we have to do is what Nevada did. They were Nevada Reno forever until they were just Nevada but still the university of Nevada at Reno!!!!

[HoustonCajun]

All we have to do is what Nevada did. They were Nevada Reno forever until they were just Nevada but still the university of Nevada at Reno!!!!

Exactly. Nevada - UNLV; Louisiana - ULM.

[Boomer]

It is so simple we are not Acadiana we are the UNIVERSITY of LOUISIANA--say it write it live it!!!!!