OsoDorado said:
Nice article, but still not crystal clear as to branding recommendations (other than rejecting "Cal Berkeley" and embracing "California").
All good as far as it goes, but it doesn't recognize that Cal has a rather unique and prestigious academic identity that is not necessarily associated with its athletic identity.
To recognize the difference yet embrace both identities, not much has to change, except emphasis.
How about:
1) "The University of California," "The University of California, Berkeley," or as a shorthand, simply "Berkeley" when referencing academics; and
2) "The University of California," "California," or simply "Cal" -- note no allusion at all to "Berkeley" -- when referencing our athletics programs ? As Mike Silver pointed out, "Michigan" didn't need to be tied to Ann Arbor and "Alabama" didn't need to be related to Tuscaloosa for "branding" purposes in athletics.
Simple!
I agree with Mike Silver, Cal should incorporate "California" more into its academic achievements. It's not a coincidence that the "Berkeley" moniker came to dominate in academia, as Cal started making great strides there in the 1950s and 60s, just as the UC system was taking hold, forcing its multiversity idea on Cal, and beginning to strip our alma mater of the "University of California," "California," and "Cal" names in a bid to make Cal equal to the other UC schools and spreading the prestige of the "University of California" to Cal's sister schools. There's no need to repeat the mistakes of Clark Kerr and his ilk. To quote Felix Frankfurter, "[w]isdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late."
To that end, I've been referring to Cal as "Cal" even when speaking with others who have no idea what that appellation means. I happily inform them that "Cal" is short for "California," which is the "University of California." If the auditor asks whether I mean UCLA, I quickly disabuse him/her of that misapprehension and reply that UCLA is merely a directional school that is, at best, a subsidiary of the actual University of California, which is in Berkeley.
I do this not only in English, but also in Chinese, where I refer to Cal as "jiada," and explain that's short for "jiazhoudaxue." If they're still confused as to what I mean, I then explain that Berkeley is the only University of California ("jiazhoudaxue"). That's usually enough for them, since it's common to refer to universities by one or two words before "da" in Chinese (and in a number of other east Asian languages). But if they ask about the other UC schools, I explain that they're satellite schools. So far, no one has had a problem with this. Instead, I've converted a number of people into referring to Cal as "jiada" in Chinese.
In short, there is no reason Cal should concede the use of "Cal," "California," or the "University of California" as its name. It is, and has been (since 1868), the University of California. Just because the UC system bureaucrats want to appropriate the name doesn't mean Cal should concede. Neither, should Cal alumni (nor Cal fans). Rather, we should continue to stand fast in referring to alma mater dear as "Cal," "California," and the "University of California."
As for the "Berkeley" brand, fold it into the University of California brand (or get rid of it altogether). Explain that Berkeley is the city where the University of California is located, but that the school is not properly known as "Berkeley" any more than Stanford is known as "Palo Alto," Beijing University ("beida") is known as "Beijing,", the University of Taipei "taida") is known as "Taipei," the University of Tokyo ("todai") is known as "Tokyo,", or the University of Seoul ("seoshipdae") is known as "Seoul.". The thing is, people are intelligent enough to comprehend that the "University of California" and "Cal" is the same school as "Berkeley." Heck, the really smart ones will also stop referring to the university as "Berkeley" and will instead refer to it as "Cal," "California," "the University of California," or the local language equivalent.
). Usually, the recipients appreciate my explanation and adopt the same name for Cal. This is especially the case for those from other countries. Some Americans, especially those from our own state, will then try to confuse the matter by saying something stupid like, "Cal State Berkeley?" This after I just explained that we're the University of California.