Franklin Pierce University now official

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to rename the institution to Franklin Pierce University, as part of a broader evolution of the school, according to an annoucement from President George Hagerty on October 13. 

According to Hagerty, the Board of Trustees accepted his recommendation unanimously to rename the school to Franklin Pierce University rather than the current Franklin Pierce College. Hagerty described the change as more backwards-looking than forward-looking, because Franklin Pierce has been operating as a de facto university for the past few years.  In essence, Franklin Pierce was a university before it will be called a university. 

Hagerty and Zedediah Bowen were sure to allay concerns about the change. They said that they remained committed to a small, liberal arts college when it comes to the Rindge campus, and that the cost of attendance would not rise because of the name change. 

A variety of names were considered by members of the administration, principally "University of Franklin Pierce." According to Hagerty, this choice seemed to have many drawbacks, such as sounding pretentious, and the fact that "University of" usually refers to a geographic location, i.e. University of Michigan. 

Hagerty stated that the name "Franklin Pierce" was retained because the Board of Trustees "didn't want to lose the tradition." 

Hagerty made no secret about his early opposition to a change in the name.  When asked how long the name change has been an issue for Franklin Pierce, the President said that he fought the idea for about nine years before he permitted it to be fully explored.  The idea has been under serious consideration for about a year and a half.  As Hagerty's e-mail read, "[a]s I weighed the decision to change our public identity, it became clear to me that 'university' most accurately describes our endeavors and the value of the education we provide." 

There were several other factors that seemed to favor the name change, other than the growing Master's and Doctoral programs.  A difficulty that Franklin Pierce has encountered overseas is that "college" has a rather different meaning than "university" overseas.  Typically, a college is either a secondary sort of school, or a part of a larger university.  In the United States, both typically offer a four-year bachelor's degree.  As Franklin Pierce expands its abroad program, the semantic difference has caused confusion. 

During a press conference Hagerty and Bowen had a forum to explain some of the decisions that the Board of Trustees has made, such as their capital campaign to improve the school.  The Campus Center reconstruction is already underway; the next phase will be the erection of a new building where the White House currently stands.  The structure will be about 23,000 square feet, and contain both professor's offices and classrooms.  The final part of the plan will be the renovation of Marcucella, particularly the science classrooms, as an acknowledgement of the growing popularity of the science degrees.  Bowen acknowledged that there was a housing crunch on the horizon, and that it was an issue the Board of Trustees would be tackling. 

The administration made an exhaustive effort to survey both students and alumni about the potential name change.  According to the Alumni website, 56% of respondents to an alumni poll stated their preference to "Franklin Pierce University."  When asked if the change would increase the prestige of Franklin Pierce, 64% agreed. 

Senate Vice President Allison Smith said she believed there was little student opposition to the change, and that there have not been any complaints about it to her.  Not all share her enthusiasm. 

"It's good to see the school progressing growing, but as alumni, we wish we had more input into the new name." said Tracy Dahlstrom '86. "Because now I don't know where to write my checks to."

The change will be complete on July 1, 2007.  The Class of 2008 will be the first to graduate from Franklin Pierce University.  There is a celebration of the change scheduled for November 12, 2007, which will be the 45th anniversary of the signing of the Franklin Pierce charter.  

The press conference, held in the courtyard near Marcucella, was hosted by Steven Dodrill for the Fitzwater Center, and was broadcasted via internet and FPC-TV live.  The Franklin Pierce Community was also notified of the change in an e-mail, authored by Hagerty, sent Friday morning.