TAMUC considering rebranding

[mohelena02]

I would LOVE this! Whenever I tell people TAMUC they just completely ignore the commerce part and think I went to the main A&M.

There is a subreddit that covers some of the open forums with recaps. https://www.reddit.com/r/TAMUDatC/ 

The president cited "brand confusion" as one of the main issues. He says that doing first-round zoom interviews with prosepective job candidates where they realize the interviewee thinks they're applying for a position at the College Station flagship is a somewhat regular occurrence. He also says "Not one day goes by that I don't encounter someone who thinks Texas A&M Commerce is the business school of College Station." He says if you get 300 miles from Commerce, nobody's ever heard of the university. 
From my experience (I don't live in Texas), this is true. Nobody I mention it to has ever heard of it.

The alumni, students and faculty are vehemently opposed on the basis that Commerce is 66 miles away from Dallas and they're adamant "Commerce is NOT Dallas." The other concern is "It will erase our culture, erase our history." 

I think this is all secondary to why he really (imo) wants to change it to Dallas. If TAMUC doesn't grab the Dallas name, the A&M System will "definitely" install a new campus or buy an existing institution and relaunch it as "Texas A&M Dallas." In a scenario where that happens, that institution will get preferential new institution Permanent University Funding (PUF) to the tune of $10m per year from the state of Texas. That institution will have way more funding to recruit and compete for DFW metroplex and surrounding county future students (the exact same area where TAMUC is getting all its growth) with more leverage. 

I think - and this is my personal wild speculation - that if another institution gets the name and that new institution PUF funding, it's basically a killshot that will cause TAMUC to shrink to an untenable size and cease to exist as an independent school, absorbed as a satellite site by someone else.

"East Texas A&M University" was the name everyone wanted when East Texas State U. joined the A&M System in 1996. The "East Texas A&M U." name seems to be in play as an option and the majority of stakeholders like that a lot better as it would be a throwback to its legacy name. But nobody believes the board of regents will seriously consider it.

Wow thank you for sharing all of this context. This makes so much sense to me, IMO they should grab the Dallas name, however I do understand that the institution have been around for a long time and erasing the history is something they should be mindful of. 
I am from Texas, and in politen conversation when my university comes up usually in social settings getting to know people, they do have a lot of confusion around Commerce.
In school or work settings I make sure to be clear on where my degree is from, but yes, confusion always arises.