Have you ever wondered what happened to the name Penn State Delaware County? Or maybe you were curious as to where the name Penn State Brandywine came from and why the sudden name change?
Delaware county would be the ideal name considering the campus is located in Delaware county but there were reasons, some surprising, as to why the change was necessary.
“There were different reasons for considering a name change for the Penn State Delaware County campus, but there were three broad themes,” Bill Tyson, Brandywine’s Director of Marketing and Communications, said. “There was confusion between Penn State Delaware County and Delaware County Community College. There was a need to broaden the campus’s admissions reach beyond where it stood. There was a need to project a more collegiate image for the campus in keeping with its offering four-year degrees.”
Alternate names for Penn State Delaware county campus were narrowed down by the name
change committee to Penn State Brandywine and Penn State Media. The committee conducted a research to determine how key target groups would react to a new name both visually and by sound. Surveys were given to 20 participants from each target group consisting of campus faculty and staff, current students, the parents of current students and alumni.
Some who were surveyed felt that Brandywine was more pleasing to the eye and ear and Media
was associated with being closer to the current campus location. From the name “Media” emerged confusion as to what it exemplified. Many participants felt the name suggest that the campus was a communications college, as in “news media.”
After being asked about their perception of the two possible names, a majority said Brandywine
seemed more collegiate and representative of a university of high standards. Still, there were some survey participants who did not believe any name change was necessary.
“I, as a student, would have thought it was a division of the Delaware County Community
College.” Brandywine student Rezwana Khatun said. “The name Brandywine gives this campus its own individuality, just like the other Penn State campuses.”
Following an evaluation of the survey results and taking into considering different view points
and suggestions, the University made a final decision to change the campus name to Penn State Brandywine. The name change took effect in the fall of 2007.
Latech Murphy
Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, Lnm107@psu.edu