La Louisianne...what the hey?

[NOCajun]

The totally law contradicts itself (on more than one occasion) but plainly says when you use 'that city reference" it must be preceded by the word "at"

So, they just want to save a single keystroke... LAZY BASTIDS!!

[MetryCajun]

I'm a fairly new alumnus and have been moving around alot with my job. This is the first issue that I've received. Even if it wasn't, with all the new excitement and opportunity to create a firm push on the new branding it's very disappointing to me that they didn't.

Maybe there is a reason for it, I don't know. I'll give ole boy Lafitte pointed me too a shout and see what the deal is. I'm very curious.

It's just disappointing when people like us put so much effort into telling people "We want to be referred to as 'Louisiana.'" I work with alot of aTm grads and UT grads. I always call they're schools "College Station" and "Austin" until they call us UL or Louisiana out of fun. I always make an effort to let people know what we want to be called. Basically, if you know me, you know that I went to school in Lafayette at Louisiana, and certainly NOT the other way around...Then La Louisianne does the same thing that we've been fighting so had to get away from. It's just a bit disheartening.

This stuff comes up pretty regularly. It will surface again with all of the TV games we have this year. It is a guarentee that we will be called UL_L, UL Laf, Lou Laf, Ulala, Lou Lafay, and just plain Lafayette during the course of the football season. Yes there will be some UL's and Louisiana's thrown in also, but it will just be a confused mess for the uninformed. We all deperately want the Louisiana name but we cannot legally use it on things like La Louisianne. This "confusion" of message will continue to have legs. I fully expect threads like this 10 years from now and beyond.
I personally don't care one bit. I am fine with UL_L, I just want the university to continue to grow and at some point have a decent football team that doesn't make me ill when I watch them.

[nathancpike]

From the university's website:

http://www.louisiana.edu/Advancement...sityname.shtml

University of Louisiana at Lafayette is the formal and official name of the university. Please use this name in all first references.

UL Lafayette is acceptable for second reference.

The following uses are inaccurate:
ULL, U of L, U of LL, and U of L at Lafayette

The lead athletic name is Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns®. Teams may also be referred to as Ragin' Cajuns® and Cajuns. Ragin' Cajuns ® is a federally registered trademark.

[Turbine]

From the university's website:

University of Louisiana at Lafayette is the formal and official name of the university. Please use this name in all first references.

UL Lafayette is acceptable for second reference.

I agree first reference is important, just like a radio station only has to give its full call letters and location at the top of the hour, proper first reference all that is needed even in official documents.

Even in the very law that established the University of Louisiana name guidelines it showed that after "first reference" you can call an institution any common name that fits. None of this was ever intended to be an every utterance use like La Louisiane has chosen to do. It makes for very bad reading. It is a good thing the mag is so informative otherwise.

[jimbo]

La Louisianne is an official publication of the University. They're required by law to use the official name of the University in that publication, even when referring to athletics. Period.

Then why doesn't the law require Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College to use that name EVERY time they refer to their university and athletic program in any publication???

It's in the official seal of the school.

Just Curious.

[California Cajun]

I have learned in my later years to just cut to the chase on matters like this: don't read the stuff. It's that simple folks.

[Damon]

I have learned in my later years to just cut to the chase on matters like this: don't read the stuff. It's that simple folks.

You've also learned to enjoy your shaves.

[zephyr]

This stuff comes up pretty regularly. It will surface again with all of the TV games we have this year. It is a guarentee that we will be called UL_L, UL Laf, Lou Laf, Ulala, Lou Lafay, and just plain Lafayette during the course of the football season. Yes there will be some UL's and Louisiana's thrown in also, but it will just be a confused mess for the uninformed. We all deperately want the Louisiana name but we cannot legally use it on things like La Louisianne. This "confusion" of message will continue to have legs. I fully expect threads like this 10 years from now and beyond.
I personally don't care one bit. I am fine with UL_L, I just want the university to continue to grow and at some point have a decent football team that doesn't make me ill when I watch them.

I agree Metry. Would I prefer to be called UL or Louisiana? Yes, absolutely. Do I think the state institutions and people responsible for the name change, especially after it was officially Louisiana deserve an agonizing revenge? yes. However, the name is what it is and I won't lose sleep over it. Why? Because when you win, things start to fall into place and you tend to get a little less kickback on things like this and you tend to deserve certain requests. I'm more concerned with the progression of the school in the classroom and on the field than what everyone does and doesn't call us.

[Crawfish]

I recently went up to Fresno State on a recruiting trip for my job. I had never heard the University called anything but Fresno State. When I arrived on campus, I noticed that the proper name of the school, which is "California State University Fresno" was everywhere; on signage, stationary, brochures, etc.

Even though the proper name of the university was used in many cases, they do not seem to have any problem with branding themselves as Fresno State. (Their official website does say Fresno State)

Just an observation

[HoustonCajun]

I recently went up to Fresno State on a recruiting trip for my job. I had never heard the University called anything but Fresno State. When I arrived on campus, the proper name of the school. which is "California State University Fresno" was everywhere; on signage, staitonary, brocures, etc.

Even though the proper name of the university was used in many cases, they do not seem to have any problem with branding themselves as Fresno State. (their official website does say Fresno State)

Just an observation

Fresno State is a perfect example of a university calling itself what it wants to be called athletically and being accepted nationally, yet we can't seem to get any consistency in being called what we ask. There are many more that can be cited.

Why can one department of the university, athletics, use LOUISIANA, while another department that produces La Louisiane, has to use UL Lafayette? The law requires use of the city tag when using University of Louisiana or UL. Use of LOUISIANA alone doesn't violate the law. Why can't La Louisiane use LOUISIANA to refer to the university like athletics does? We plaster LOUISIANA on our stadiums and uniforms, but use Louisiana's on the IPF and on our multi-colored logo. Yet, our publications can't seem to use the LOUISIANA reference athletically.

The football team guide calls us LOUISIANA. Interestingly, instead of referring to use of the name under "Media Information", it does not mention "Who we are" until page 28 in the end of the student-athlete profiles. That makes no sense. Why not put it up front with the Media Information so it is clear to them. There is one sentence that is obscurely placed under "Our Name" that says "That name lasted until 1999 and was replaced by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Athletically, using the reference 'at Lafayette' is not necessary in the same examples as North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Texas at Austin and Tennessee at Knoxville". And the media is supposed to somehow pick up on this?

Then, below "Who We Are" is a section called "Our Nickname and Mascot" where twice the amount of space is used discussing our mascot over our name.

This whole name issue is so inconsistently and poorly handled by the university it is no wonder this debacle continues. We are 12 years into this and still can't make a definitive statement on what to call ourselves athletically. Any wonder no one else does either?

[Duggie35]

Consistant winning will heal many wounds!

[ultoday]

La Louisianne is an official publication of the University. They're required by law to use the official name of the University in that publication, even when referring to athletics. Period.

No, No, No, No, No, NOCajun!

It is not law. It's a rule from the UL System.

And remember, UL athletics breaks the rule all the time. In fact, I don't think they follow the rule anywhere.