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Post by motorcitysam on Oct 11, 2019 9:09:55 GMT -5
This week:
Midwest Mid Major referred to us within their write up as simply "Mercy".
Former NBA star Tim Hardaway posted on Instagram that his old friend Coach Dildy is coaching at University Detroit Mercy College.
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Post by nctitan on Oct 11, 2019 12:47:46 GMT -5
This week: Midwest Mid Major referred to us within their write up as simply "Mercy". Former NBA star Tim Hardaway posted on Instagram that his old friend Coach Dildy is coaching at University Detroit Mercy College. I guess that speaks to a UTEP education. |
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Post by motorcitysam on Oct 11, 2019 14:22:27 GMT -5
This week: Midwest Mid Major referred to us within their write up as simply "Mercy". Former NBA star Tim Hardaway posted on Instagram that his old friend Coach Dildy is coaching at University Detroit Mercy College. I guess that speaks to a UTEP education. Speaks more to a branding disaster. It's not just UTEP alums who get our name wrong. But, sure, let's take a shot at a guy trying to give our program some positive publicity. |
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Post by ptctitan on Oct 11, 2019 14:57:07 GMT -5
The short-form name "Detroit Mercy" does not accurately communicate to a person who is unfamiliar with our school that the university is a merger between the Jesuits' University of Detroit and the Sisters of Mercy's Mercy College of Detroit. It continues to convey inaccurately that the university is only the Sisters of Mercy's university that is located in Detroit. Thus, we continue to see our name shortened to just Mercy (many times just for space considerations) by media who do not know the reason for the name.
Every time this type of error occurs, it angers a segment of the larger base of alumni who attended or graduated from the University of Detroit. Many of those people have stopped giving money because they have no connection to Mercy College and feel slighted every time their college experience at U of D is ignored. It has created an unnecessary need for the university to mend fences over a stupid branding decision.
The quickest fix in the short name is to place a hyphen between Detroit and Mercy. "Detroit-Mercy" would counter the impression that Detroit is merely the geographic identifier for a Sisters of Mercy nursing college. It would not take up any more space on a page. And it would show that large group of U of D alumni that the university is aware and sensitive to their negative view of a school name that many view as a degradation of their college experience.
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Post by nctitan on Oct 11, 2019 17:09:32 GMT -5
The short-form name "Detroit Mercy" does not accurately communicate to a person who is unfamiliar with our school that the university is a merger between the Jesuits' University of Detroit and the Sisters of Mercy's Mercy College of Detroit. It continues to convey inaccurately that the university is only the Sisters of Mercy's university that is located in Detroit. Thus, we continue to see our name shortened to just Mercy (many times just for space considerations) by media who do not know the reason for the name. Every time this type of error occurs, it angers a segment of the larger base of alumni who attended or graduated from the University of Detroit. Many of those people have stopped giving money because they have no connection to Mercy College and feel slighted every time their college experience at U of D is ignored. It has created an unnecessary need for the university to mend fences over a stupid branding decision. The quickest fix in the short name is to place a hyphen between Detroit and Mercy. "Detroit-Mercy" would counter the impression that Detroit is merely the geographic identifier for a Sisters of Mercy nursing college. It would not take up any more space on a page. And it would show that large group of U of D alumni that the university is aware and sensitive to their negative view of a school name that many view as a degradation of their college experience. Two flaws in your thinking, PTC. You speak of those who have stopped giving money because of the merger/name change. If they had been giving before the merger, UofD wouldn't have needed to merge. Second, your comment that "Detroit" is the geographic identifier for Mercy College assumes that people are more familiar with Mercy College than with the University of Detroit. I doubt that. On the other hand, I totally agree that a hyphen would help. But I disagree that the school name degrades our college experience. I prefer to wear University of Detroit gear only because that was the name when I graduated, but I don't feel the name change made my college experience anything less. I wonder if any Michigan State University - Oakland graduates think their degrees are less valuable because they are now just Oakland. Did you know that Wayne State University was known as College of the City of Detroit until 1934? Our school was Detroit College until 1911. That must've been confusing. |
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Post by ptctitan on Oct 12, 2019 7:02:50 GMT -5
It's not just thinking, it comes from talking to people.
On the donors issue, there are people who used to give to the university who have stopped giving due to the name change. That's a fact. Wish it weren't. They are not the same ones who weren't giving to the school in the 1970s and 1980s. These are donors who were students in the 1970s and 1980s. These people are now in the 50's and 60's and have money, but choose not to donate it for the same reason you and I choose to wear Detroit gear.
As to the geographic identifier issue, I've spoken directly to many people who thought that way because they have never heard of either school. I've spoken to reporters who thought this was the case.
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Post by titantarheel on Oct 12, 2019 7:34:28 GMT -5
I agree with PTC take on this. (My views have evolved over the years esp after the recent rebrand)
Older alums from Univ of Detroit could have a view that “hey, this Detroit mercy place isn’t the same as the one I went to and loved”. Thus with the connection broken they opt to donate to other places. It’s not just people who stopped giving, but it’s important that there are people that never started giving because of the branding moves.
The school and the city is indeed different from 20, 30, 50 years ago. Yes the Jesuits still guide things but it is easy to see someone thinking it’s not really at all what it was when they were there. Also, giving ones own money is indeed a personal thing and people want to feel good about where they are giving. If any doubts start to creep in, then you can see how someone would stop and refocus. Heck as years go by other causes become more important to people - maybe a loved ones battle with a disease, maybe a humanitarian cause, maybe a high school or grad school they attended.
We may not like the idea that the name change, and continued name change, has pushed people away but I can certainly believe it has. It’s a fault of our own making, which was also arguably the right or wrong thing to do anyhow — meaning, the school probably failed in many other ways over the years to engage past alums and potential donors. The name change is probably a part of a larger failure.
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Post by rc on Oct 12, 2019 10:11:09 GMT -5
Well we were Detroit Mercy from 1996 - 2001(??) when Perry Watson guided
us to an at-large NCAA bid, two first round NCAA tournament wins, an NIT semi-final, and two NBA players. If we’re still worried about the name twenty years later I think we need to let it go. The name didn’t hamper our success then so why should it now? If we started winning at baseball again, would we even talk about it any longer? If our endowment is now $60M (still low, I know) when back then it was a paltry $15M or so, something must be okay with the name, school, academics, etc. Right?
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Post by nctitan on Oct 12, 2019 11:08:38 GMT -5
Most certainly the school failed to engage with donors and alumni in the past 50 years. But that goes back pre-merger, pre-name change, pre-rebranding. I graduated in 1973 and the school never really reached out to me.
But the school has learned to connect in the past decade. The endowment has about tripled. The planned $60 million capital campaign was stretched to $100 million and then completed a year ahead of schedule. When it ends in December, it probably will be about 10% over goal. Programs and plans are in place to connect with existing alumni and to engage with students when they graduate.
So the school in improving, and not only in the outreach aspects. It also looks better than ever. The academic rankings are moving up and up. Likewise, athletic academic rankings are high. (Note: academic athletic rankings are not the baloney retention number; that’s a totally different and unconnected number.)
Most importantly, we don’t have a time machine. No matter what we do today we can’t change our win/loss record in the past. We can’t go back and change what happened in the ‘70s and ‘80s and ’90. Look forward, support the current efforts, focus on making things even better. Work with what we have. Keep doing things right and the future will only look brighter.
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Post by titantarheel on Oct 12, 2019 15:41:42 GMT -5
All good points NCT. There is indeed a positive momentum to the university in many aspects and seen in many tangible ways. There are things for all of us to be optimistic about.
The ideal case was that we didn't bungle some of the alumni relations over the years (30+ years?) and put us behind the 8-ball with folks that have drifted away from caring about what goes on at 6 Mile and Livernois (irrespective of the actual name up on the sign).
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Post by bigchuck on Oct 12, 2019 22:46:29 GMT -5
Most certainly the school failed to engage with donors and alumni in the past 50 years. But that goes back pre-merger, pre-name change, pre-rebranding. I graduated in 1973 and the school never really reached out to me. But the school has learned to connect in the past decade. The endowment has about tripled. The planned $60 million capital campaign was stretched to $100 million and then completed a year ahead of schedule. When it ends in December, it probably will be about 10% over goal. Programs and plans are in place to connect with existing alumni and to engage with students when they graduate. So the school in improving, and not only in the outreach aspects. It also looks better than ever. The academic rankings are moving up and up. Likewise, athletic academic rankings are high. (Note: academic athletic rankings are not the baloney retention number; that’s a totally different and unconnected number.) Most importantly, we don’t have a time machine. No matter what we do today we can’t change our win/loss record in the past. We can’t go back and change what happened in the ‘70s and ‘80s and ’90. Look forward, support the current efforts, focus on making things even better. Work with what we have. Keep doing things right and the future will only look brighter. Well said! I agree 100%. |
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Post by motorcitysam on Oct 13, 2019 19:32:26 GMT -5
As far as the Perry Watson teams go, the Titans sports teams were branded the Detroit Titans during most of his time here. While that may have caused some confusion, at least no one was referring to us as simply "Mercy" in game stories and season previews.
PTCT makes a valid point about donors. It's not accurate to just say "well, they should have donated before the merger" because we have lost a lot of support from the 70s and 80s grads who have the money to donate now that they didn't have back then. Changing the name back to U of D probably would have gotten at least a good portion of them back, and I doubt it would have caused current supporters to stop giving.
I'm not Catholic and the difference between the Mercy and Jesuit orders isn't the issue with me that it is with some. If I was a Jesuit, it would bother me that Jesuit doesn't appear anywhere except a few banners on campus while Mercy is in the University name, website name, advertisements, branding, and splashed all over the team uniforms. I imagined that turns off some potential donors.
Lots of positive things are going on with the University, and I continue to brag about them and I support the University in several ways. I'm proud to be a grad. But I have yet to hear from anyone why changing the name back to the University of Detroit would be a negative in any way. The positives of such a move seem pretty apparent. For me, a desire for the best possible long term outcomes for the University drives my wish that we had the old name back. Nostalgia isn't the driving force for the people I talk to who wish we were still called U of Detroit.
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Post by ptctitan on Oct 15, 2019 6:42:52 GMT -5
I'm just referring to our short name used in athletics. We should use "Detroit-Mercy" for two reasons: 1) it more accurately describes the nature of the university at present; and, 2) when it's said, it still sounds like the desired brand because the hyphen is not pronounced.
Yes, this is a compromise; but it would show some recognition of the branding problem and give some recognition to all those years that we played only as "Detroit." That is a heritage that we don't want to destroy altogether. And, that gesture might bring back some alumni who (rightly or wrongly) feel alienated by the apparent lack of equal recognition to the old "U of D."
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Post by Rogobob77 on Oct 17, 2019 23:34:05 GMT -5
I resurveyed the same 19 media outlets as last year to see how they refer to the Titan program as we enter the 2019-20 season. One year later, there was zero change, 42 percent use “Detroit Mercy,” 58% reference the school as “Detroit.” I won’t editorialize, but just make the empirical-based observation that there is significant inconsistency in how the national media reference the University and there doesn’t appear to be movement to the brand rolled out three years ago. Here’s the results for the outlets sampled:
Street & Smith: Detroit Mercy (unchanged)
Athlon: Detroit (unchanged)
Lindy’s: Detroit (unchanged)
NBC Sports: Detroit (unchanged)
Three Man Weave: Detroit Mercy (unchanged)
CBB Central: Detroit (unchanged)
ESPN: Detroit Mercy (unchanged)
Verbal Commits: Detroit (unchanged)
CBS Sports: Detroit (unchanged)
Sports Illustrated: Detroit (unchanged)
USA Today Sports: Detroit Mercy (unchanged)
Fox Sports (website): Detroit (unchanged)
Ken Pomeroy: Detroit (unchanged)
Mid-Major Madness: inconsistent, but generally Detroit Mercy (unchanged)
Hoops HD: Detroit (unchanged)
Massey Ratings: Detroit (unchanged)
Busting Brackets: Detroit Mercy (unchanged)
Sagarin: Detroit Mercy (unchanged)
RealtimeRPI: Detroit Mercy (unchanged)
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Post by motorcitysam on Oct 18, 2019 18:40:47 GMT -5
I resurveyed the same 19 media outlets as last year to see how they refer to the Titan program as we enter the 2019-20 season. One year later, there was zero change, 42 percent use “Detroit Mercy,” 58% reference the school as “Detroit.” I won’t editorialize, but just make the empirical-based observation that there is significant inconsistency in how the national media reference the University and there doesn’t appear to be movement to the brand rolled out three years ago. Here’s the results for the outlets sampled: Street & Smith: Detroit Mercy (unchanged) Athlon: Detroit (unchanged) Lindy’s: Detroit (unchanged) NBC Sports: Detroit (unchanged) Three Man Weave: Detroit Mercy (unchanged) CBB Central: Detroit (unchanged) ESPN: Detroit Mercy (unchanged) Verbal Commits: Detroit (unchanged) CBS Sports: Detroit (unchanged) Sports Illustrated: Detroit (unchanged) USA Today Sports: Detroit Mercy (unchanged) Fox Sports (website): Detroit (unchanged) Ken Pomeroy: Detroit (unchanged) Mid-Major Madness: inconsistent, but generally Detroit Mercy (unchanged) Hoops HD: Detroit (unchanged) Massey Ratings: Detroit (unchanged) Busting Brackets: Detroit Mercy (unchanged) Sagarin: Detroit Mercy (unchanged) RealtimeRPI: Detroit Mercy (unchanged) WatchStadium.com, which is Jeff Goodman's platform, also refers to us as Detroit. During the 2012-13 season, the Titans had that late season game against Temple. I listened to it via the Owls flagship radio station's website and actually caught a bit of the program that preceded the game. The two hosts were signing off and talking about what was next on the air and were legitimately wondering just what kind of team the "Detroit Titans" were. That's how our teams were branded back then, without any obvious connection to a University, and they were actually wondering if the Detroit Titans were a kind of traveling team like Athletes in Action. I wanted to bang my head against the wall while listening to the conversation. However, I still prefer that branding to what we have now. |
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