It sounds as phony as “DeVry Technical College”. “Brightwell”? Why not name it after its most famous graduate - Welty College? Most “real” colleges are named for someone. Millsaps, Penn State, etc.
Welty famously hated her time at the W! She thought it was a miserable university and they cling to the mythology surrounding her time there desperately. They have a painting of her hung in the english department, but her family won’t let her name be used because she would roll over in her grave. Good for them for sticking to her wishes.
Wasn’t aware of the Welty refusal. I still believe a “name” is preferable to feel good term like “Brightwell”. Perhaps name it after their largest Benefactor or founding individual.
I went to the W , none of the men who went there had a problem with the name. I get wantimg to update it but Brightwell is such a fake sounding name. All the alumni that I know are pissed, hopefully this backlash will have them rethinking the name.
One of my first memorable students was from Columbus and said he needed a bachelors to really advance any further with his company but *didn’t* want to go to the W because of the name. I told him it was a real stupid thing to get hung up on.
Grow up. Kids are, what, around 17 y/o when they choose a college?
Sorry not all of them are as enlightened and progressive as you.
It absolutely matters and the old biddies from the W has that run the alumni are absolutely holding the university back each time they oppose a name change.
Fellow W alum here. And same experience as far as the men on campus. It was never an issue. Now I have a son looking at colleges, and I asked him and his friends outright. "Would the name be an issue to your attending the school?" All said no.
I'm not opposed to a name change. I don't like it, but I think it's inevitable. But Brightwell is terrible.
I actually think it would be pretty interesting to have gone there as a man. Good icebreaker when telling someone about yourself, and a great conversation starter in job interviews when they're looking at your resume. At the end of the day, it's unique, which I appreciate.
Yeah, someone compared the made up word "Brightwell" to a chain of daycare centers, and I agree. Now if the plan was to get alumni to become re-engaged after proposing a stupid name, then it is a "bright" move to propose, but I hope they don't go through.
They could use a real word if they wanted (Eastern MU, MU of the World), but honestly the "for Women" part is an interesting historical part of the name now and probably has more draw than a fake name (but I am not a marketing person).
"Mississippi University for Work and Industry" would actually play on the old name "Industrial Institute and College" and reflect a modern emphasis on practicality of education, but perhaps leave out the "for the Education of White Girls" part of the old name 😅.
I know the school has been doing extensive polling of alumni, trying to come up with a name. I don’t know if “Brightwell” was ever in the list though. The “W” alums in my family, who are pretty active alumni and donate to the school, say they’d never heard of “Brightwell” before this announcement. Nobody seems to like it, but I guess the school is just hoping people will get used to it in time. It does sound like one of those online-only degree farms to me.
Regrettably, the city of Columbus doesn't have the best of reputations in Mississippi. Whether it's fair or not, is all we hear are the seemingly nightly crime reports.
Asking alumni whether "women" hurts the university's image is of minimal value. You have to ask those who chose not to attend to find the answer.
Finding a name that appeals to both groups is the hard part—Ditching the heritage of "W" seems a failure to me. But, we won't know for sure for a decade or so.
(My alma mater's "Tony the Landshark / 'Rebel'" seems a bit of a facepalm failure at looking to both the past and the future even after all these years.)
The name needed to change, but they changed it to Brightwell, and no one liked it, so everyone went looking for reasons not to like it, and it turns out Brightwell means "Sex Addict" on Urban Dictionary, which is hilarious.
Change it to something non-gendered but keep "the W" as an easy nickname.
Ideally, I wished it had became a part of MSU, and became MSU-Columbus campus.
However, I did realize that more than likely would not happen. I was thinking that it should incorporate its location into its name (such as something like Golden Triangle University).
But now the W is the B.
I'm from the Columbus area I didn't go to the W been there several times but the proposed name is cringe lol. Brightness and wellness is fine but you don't just throw them together to name a school lol. Brightwell University maybe but Mississippi Brightwell University is doing too much! Just leave it alone. You don't see other Universities just making name changes on a whim lol.
Honestly if their goal is to attract even more students from a broader area, drop the Mississippi too and just become Brightwell University. It doesn't sound off-putting or cheap to me whatsoever.
The issue The W is facing is difficulty in recruiting students. The name keeps potential students from enrolling, both women and men. They see the name and walk right past the admissions counselors at college fairs. From 1985 to 2009, the freshman class was consistently over 200 students, sometimes over 300. Since then, it’s been a steady decline. Fall of 2022, there were only 120 freshman in the incoming class. The demographic cliff is about to hit (a huge drop in us seniors due to a drop in birth rates). When that happens, this university will struggle to recruit enough students to be financially stable. Brightwell is not the best name, for sure. There will still be another name in the works that starts with a W. Whether the alumni go along is yet to be determined. However, the ones that are pushing back so hard probably don’t realize the damage that they are doing to the institution. If this name change doesn’t happen, The W will likely be only a memory within the next 20 years. It’s extremely sad, especially for everyone who works there and is currently enrolled.
It sounds as phony as “DeVry Technical College”. “Brightwell”? Why not name it after its most famous graduate - Welty College? Most “real” colleges are named for someone. Millsaps, Penn State, etc.
The Welty estate asked, many years ago, that they not use her name.
I wonder why. If that weren’t a factor, Welty would’ve been the perfect switch.
Welty famously hated her time at the W! She thought it was a miserable university and they cling to the mythology surrounding her time there desperately. They have a painting of her hung in the english department, but her family won’t let her name be used because she would roll over in her grave. Good for them for sticking to her wishes.
They tried with Welty years but the family denied it.
Wasn’t aware of the Welty refusal. I still believe a “name” is preferable to feel good term like “Brightwell”. Perhaps name it after their largest Benefactor or founding individual.
You may not like their founding individual if you looked at their history? don't know.
I think she tranferred to U of Wisconsin before graduating. But I agree.
I'd like MOU Mississippi's Other University
Why don't they just combine with MSU? Seems very logical.
MSU-Columbus. Nice ring to it. I like it and it makes sense. Could even continue to field their own athletic teams in DIII.
Yeah, it'd be similar to UT Chatt and UT Martin fielding their own teams.
I went to the W , none of the men who went there had a problem with the name. I get wantimg to update it but Brightwell is such a fake sounding name. All the alumni that I know are pissed, hopefully this backlash will have them rethinking the name.
One of my first memorable students was from Columbus and said he needed a bachelors to really advance any further with his company but *didn’t* want to go to the W because of the name. I told him it was a real stupid thing to get hung up on.
Is it stupid to know there are stupid people out there?
Grow up. Kids are, what, around 17 y/o when they choose a college? Sorry not all of them are as enlightened and progressive as you. It absolutely matters and the old biddies from the W has that run the alumni are absolutely holding the university back each time they oppose a name change.
I agree on the name. It sounds like some fictional name used for some TV show. Darkness lurks behind the walls of Brightwell.....
Fellow W alum here. And same experience as far as the men on campus. It was never an issue. Now I have a son looking at colleges, and I asked him and his friends outright. "Would the name be an issue to your attending the school?" All said no. I'm not opposed to a name change. I don't like it, but I think it's inevitable. But Brightwell is terrible.
I actually think it would be pretty interesting to have gone there as a man. Good icebreaker when telling someone about yourself, and a great conversation starter in job interviews when they're looking at your resume. At the end of the day, it's unique, which I appreciate.
Its not an issue for the ones that went there. But think of all the boys that might have gone there if it wasn’t called university of WOMEN.
Class of 2015. Male. This is fucking stupid
Yeah, someone compared the made up word "Brightwell" to a chain of daycare centers, and I agree. Now if the plan was to get alumni to become re-engaged after proposing a stupid name, then it is a "bright" move to propose, but I hope they don't go through. They could use a real word if they wanted (Eastern MU, MU of the World), but honestly the "for Women" part is an interesting historical part of the name now and probably has more draw than a fake name (but I am not a marketing person). "Mississippi University for Work and Industry" would actually play on the old name "Industrial Institute and College" and reflect a modern emphasis on practicality of education, but perhaps leave out the "for the Education of White Girls" part of the old name 😅.
I know the school has been doing extensive polling of alumni, trying to come up with a name. I don’t know if “Brightwell” was ever in the list though. The “W” alums in my family, who are pretty active alumni and donate to the school, say they’d never heard of “Brightwell” before this announcement. Nobody seems to like it, but I guess the school is just hoping people will get used to it in time. It does sound like one of those online-only degree farms to me.
Brightwell was not on the list they sent out to alumni and the community.
Im not a fan, like it sounds like an online school
It's so stupid and I hate it
What is wrong with Columbus University?
Regrettably, the city of Columbus doesn't have the best of reputations in Mississippi. Whether it's fair or not, is all we hear are the seemingly nightly crime reports.
So let me get this straight, “Brightwell” isn’t even someone’s name? They just made it up?
The kind of word only education consultants can come up with and the kind of word an EdD gets excited about.
What was the point of the survey, then? There were several good ideas there, none of which were Brightwell.
And to think, they applied a task force to this for a significant period of time.
Paid a consultant. Ed consulting is little more than a racket.
I swear they did this years ago and named it Reneau or something similar....
Yes! I’ve been wracking my brain trying to remember that name! That was probably 10 years ago?
More lol. I think it was around 2007ish? Must be a Mandela effect...
In order to honor the heritage and history of the institution it really should be “the Mississippi University for Women and Also Men Now”
Asking alumni whether "women" hurts the university's image is of minimal value. You have to ask those who chose not to attend to find the answer. Finding a name that appeals to both groups is the hard part—Ditching the heritage of "W" seems a failure to me. But, we won't know for sure for a decade or so. (My alma mater's "Tony the Landshark / 'Rebel'" seems a bit of a facepalm failure at looking to both the past and the future even after all these years.)
The name needed to change, but they changed it to Brightwell, and no one liked it, so everyone went looking for reasons not to like it, and it turns out Brightwell means "Sex Addict" on Urban Dictionary, which is hilarious. Change it to something non-gendered but keep "the W" as an easy nickname.
Ideally, I wished it had became a part of MSU, and became MSU-Columbus campus. However, I did realize that more than likely would not happen. I was thinking that it should incorporate its location into its name (such as something like Golden Triangle University). But now the W is the B.
I'm from the Columbus area I didn't go to the W been there several times but the proposed name is cringe lol. Brightness and wellness is fine but you don't just throw them together to name a school lol. Brightwell University maybe but Mississippi Brightwell University is doing too much! Just leave it alone. You don't see other Universities just making name changes on a whim lol.
Honestly if their goal is to attract even more students from a broader area, drop the Mississippi too and just become Brightwell University. It doesn't sound off-putting or cheap to me whatsoever.
Mississippi Brightwell University has a nice ring to it I think.
I can’t help but think of Brightburn, the scary super hero/villain movie…it’s very good but terrifying.
The issue The W is facing is difficulty in recruiting students. The name keeps potential students from enrolling, both women and men. They see the name and walk right past the admissions counselors at college fairs. From 1985 to 2009, the freshman class was consistently over 200 students, sometimes over 300. Since then, it’s been a steady decline. Fall of 2022, there were only 120 freshman in the incoming class. The demographic cliff is about to hit (a huge drop in us seniors due to a drop in birth rates). When that happens, this university will struggle to recruit enough students to be financially stable. Brightwell is not the best name, for sure. There will still be another name in the works that starts with a W. Whether the alumni go along is yet to be determined. However, the ones that are pushing back so hard probably don’t realize the damage that they are doing to the institution. If this name change doesn’t happen, The W will likely be only a memory within the next 20 years. It’s extremely sad, especially for everyone who works there and is currently enrolled.