2014 Branding Fiasco: UL-Lafayette or UL-L (SBC Reference Guide)
I'm just gonna drop this right here....
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The Sun Belt Conference on Monday issued what it is calling a “University Reference Guide” to “be used by the conference office when referring to each one of its members.”
For the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, that will mean UL-Lafayette on first reference and UL-L as an abbreviation.
For the University of Louisiana at Monroe, which has been embroiled in an ongoing dispute with UL over name usage, it will mean UL-Monroe on first reference and ULM (with no hyphen) as an abbreviation.
The guide also serves as suggestions for others, but according to the conference, it is not a mandate.
Still, there remains a dispute between the Sun Belt and UL over the name references.
UL spokesman Aaron Martin said “it is not the intention of the university to be called (UL-L).”
But Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson suggested in a phone interview Monday that UL-Lafayette and UL-L both are name references approved by UL president Joseph Savoie following a solicitation of requests from around the conference.
“This is definitely not my decision,” Benson said.
“I work for the presidents and chancellors,” he added, “and this exercise was to enable the conference office to establish a consistent manner to make reference to our member universities and, hopefully, to be able to encourage the other member universities as well as the other local, regional and national media to begin to refer to Sun Belt universities as they wish to be referred.”
Martin said Monday that Savoie was “unavailable” for comment on the Sun Belt’s guide.
Savoie, through Martin, also has turned down multiple and standing interview requests on the controversial name issue dating back as far as last October.
UL has been publicly battling for its sports teams to be referenced first as Louisiana with no Lafayette — an effort that met with resistance from ULM.
The Warhawks have long wanted the Ragin’ Cajuns to retain their Lafayette reference.
But UL has countered by saying verbally and in writing that the school’s nickname for its athletic teams is now “Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns,” and that shorter versions of that are acceptable — but also by frequently using “Louisiana” in its own first references.
It’s a way to prompt use of Louisiana sans Lafayette by national and regional media and by other programs.
But Martin suggested in a statement that the conference is not adhering to UL’s nickname preference.
“The University submitted Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns as the team nickname. … Benson agreed to that,” the statement said in part. “We are asking him to correct the nickname to include ‘Louisiana.’ ”
Sun Belt spokesman John McElwain said UL did submit “Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns,” and that “that is an acceptable use.”
But he said the Sun Belt “simplified” that to Ragin’ Cajuns for its guide, suggesting that it is more consistent with typical nicknames and adding that it won’t be changed to “Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.”
“I consider the guide to be final at this time,” McElwain said.
As for the UL-L use, Martin said in his statement that “we advised the conference that UL Lafayette has been our official abbreviation since 1999 and is in compliance with UL System board guidelines.”
Martin maintains the Cajuns have never used ULL as an abbreviation.
Using UL-L avoids references to ULL.
“We forwarded to him (Benson) that if he absolutely needed something, and just for those (scoring and statistical) purposes, that then UL-L would probably be the closest thing that could become comparable to our policy,” Martin said by phone. “But we did ask him to put an asterisk and a footnote that UL-L was strictly for those kind of … sports stats. He declined to put the footnote, but we still stand by our policy … that ULL is not our abbreviation.”
As for the hyphen between UL and Lafayette in the longer reference, Martin said one was not requested.
“Our policy is just UL Lafayette,” he said.
McElwain, however, said he thought UL did request the hyphen between UL and Lafayette.
“A hyphen wouldn’t exist on the abbreviation, either, if there wouldn’t have been a hyphen on the UL-Lafayette,” he said. “Why would you (hyphenate) on the one and not the other?”
Martin said Savoie “did not direct communications or discussions” with ULM president Nick Bruno “about the Sun Belt guide.”
Benson said there was no back and forth between the conference and Savoie in terms of what choices the Cajuns had.
“Whatever University of Louisiana Lafayette informed me to do we would have done,” Benson said.
According to a statement from Benson released Monday by the conference, “While the Sun Belt will encourage its member universities, media partners and outside entities to use the guide so there is consistency in how the universities’ sports teams are referenced, it cannot and will not be mandated.”
Benson also said in the statement that the conference “has worked closely with each member university over the past several months to develop” the guide, and that the “references have been approved by each Sun Belt President or Chancellor.”
“I’ve been pretty consistent,” Benson said, “in that we will call any of our member universities whatever they want to be called.”
Martin suggested the school will continue to stress the “Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns” nickname, regardless of what the SBC suggests.
“This is just a guide from the Sun Belt conference,” he said, “and I think our sports information office, as we continue to play different opponents and they continue to work with different media, would continue to put out their program notes accordingly to explain their preferences for abbreviation.”
Two spectators at UL’s basketball Monday night against Texas State said they were not big fans of three-letter UL-L abbreviation decision.
“I don’t think they should put a hyphen,” Adam LaFleur of Cecilia said. “It’s University of Louisiana at Lafayette. No hyphen.”
Seated next to LaFleur was Seth Latiolais, also from Cecilia. He wasn’t in favor of the hyphen, or any new name for the program, for that matter.
“Some people would like it changed. Some people want it different,” Latiolais said. “But then some people would rather it stay the same, like I would.”
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