UH-Downtown is closer to getting a new name.
Officials revealed April 14 that two names are being considered for the institution: City University and Houston City University.
The primary reason for the renaming of the school is for UH-D to gain its independence and identity.
UH System Board of Regents Chairman Welcome Wilson Sr. said the renaming of UH-D is being considered so that people will not confuse it with the main campus.
“We still want it to be associated with UH systems, but the problem is that prospective students, along with others, are getting confused,” he said. “The University of Houston- Downtown runs a lot of ads, but what happens is that people respond to the main campus instead of the downtown campus.”
Former UH-D President Max Castillo made the formal proposal five years ago to change the school’s name, and in December 2008, the regents voted to change the name of the campus.
But the two names proposed at the time, Houston Metropolitan University and University of South Texas, failed to catch on.
Wilson said renaming the school will help increase state and private funding for the school.
UH-D graduate student Shelby Johnson said she likes the idea to change the school’s name because it has “no visibility in the city of Houston.”
“Some people feel that UH-D is a small branch of the University of Houston, and it is not,” Johnson said. “UH-D has great programs, such as law enforcement and (an) amazing risk management program in its school of business.”
UH-D interdisciplinary studies student Naima Brown said she doesn’t mind the Board of Regents renaming the school.
“People tend to make UH-D seem inferior to the main campus; some say it is not a real institution of higher education,” Brown said. “I think a name change will definitely be a good look for the school. I just a hope that the board lets students have a voice in the decision of the name.”
Wilson said the campus will be renamed soon.
“We will take whatever time it takes to build a consensus,” he said. “Hopefully we will have a name in a couple of months, but there is no deadline as of now.”
Since opening its doors in 1974, UH-D has drawn many students from the greater Houston area and currently has 12,000 students enrolled. That number is expected to increase by 8,000 in the next five years.
“UH-D has almost as many students as Baylor University and has been around for 35 years,” Wilson said. “It is a fabulous institution with a lot to offer but just has too little of an identity,”