Chicago Says Boo-th
By BankersBall on Nov 12, 2008 in Ivy League, M.B.A.: means business, a**hole
Ex-GSBer to GSB staff: WE GET IT.
A fed up Chicago GSBer (we use that for clarity, but will now, from here on out call it Chicago Booth) writes in with a complaint about the school’s current rebranding process.
“We’ve gotten no fewer than five of these emails from various school administrators over the last week. This rebranding is absolutely out of control. Plus, the name is stupid.”
A taste of the emails below:
Chicago Booth Community,
Our announcement of David Booth’s very generous and powerful vote of confidence in our business school and our rebranding the school The University of Chicago Booth School of Business have been nothing short of historic. The feedback has been as extraordinary as the gift and the naming of the school itself.
To clarify, there are three ways to refer to our school:
§ The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
§ Chicago Booth
§ BoothThe rebranding of the school has empowered us to move away from a generic description, Graduate School of Business or GSB, to Chicago Booth, which has the potential to become a world class brand befitting this world class institution. Our goal is for Chicago Booth to be the best business school in the world and to be recognized as such.
We believe that referring to the school by name rather than by its initials will go a long way in helping us achieve this goal. We would like to elicit your support and help in successfully launching our new brand. When referring to your school, please use The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Chicago Booth or simply Booth. Please resist the temptation to call the school the BSB or the Booth School of Business.
I am confident that propelled by David’s record breaking gift and the amazing press coverage we’ve already received, your thoughtful stewardship of the Chicago Booth brand will be just what we need to achieve unprecedented levels of broader recognition, familiarity and respect exceeding that of any other business school.
Thanks for your help and support.
Ted
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And an excerpt of another email:
As you are already aware Chicago GSB experienced a historic and truly transformational event last week. Inspired by a very generous gift from a GSB alumnus we will no longer be called Chicago GSB, but rather the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. For the purposes of branding it is imperative that everyone starts to use this new name as part of our common day-to-day vernacular. In your interactions with prospective students, either in person or electronically, please refer to our program as one of the following:
· Full legal name is The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
· Brand name is Chicago Booth.
· Preferred shorthand/handle is Booth (or Chicago).We are NOT:
· The BSB
· The Booth School
· The Booth School of Business
· Chicago Booth School of Business
On Nov 12, 2008, Androcass said:
What is truly remarkable is not the desire to kiss the ring of Mr. Booth, but the low level of writing and thinking that’s going into these letters. I say more here:
http://androcass.blogspot.com/2008/11/booth-just-booth.html
On Nov 13, 2008, Anonymous said:
I bet GSB shirts are hot right now. Nothing like good old subversion on a college campus.
On Nov 15, 2008, Fred said:
I think it’s a good move. People may not be used to the name yet, but I’ll bet people had the same initial concerns with Darden, Wharton, Fuqua, and GSB. I think it will grow with time, and people’s early criticisms will be forgotten. We’ll find out, I guess.
On Nov 20, 2008, Anonymous said:
BSB is Backstreet Boys, and GSB can’t be associated with them…
On Nov 21, 2008, Androcass said:
It took this last post to Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely if I cling to my notion of what the name should be. If Dean Ted says, “I Want It That Way,” I’ll accept that he has Quit Playing Games With My Heart. More Than That, I’m now fully on board with the name change; Dean Ted, I Just Want You to Know that I’ll Never Break Your Heart As Long As You Love Me, I’ll go Anywhere For You, and, next time you ask me for money, give me The Call, expect All I Have to Give. Otherwise, I’ll be Incomplete and Inconsolable. Chicago Booth, or Booth, Get Down You’re the One for Me. We’ve Got It Goin’ On!
On Dec 11, 2008, Anonymous said:
This name change seems incredibly short sighted. Yeah you can mention Darden, Wharton, and Fuqua but Harvard, Stanford and Columbia don’t have names - seems like we have traded for some lower company. Have we calculated what this will do to future endowment drives? Thought process being, “Well you just sold the school out for $300M so why do you need my lousy $5K or $10K”. How much will that cumulatively add up to in lost $$ over 10 yrs? What I don’t get is with a ~$1.6B+ endowment why does $300M have such an intoxicating political swing (yes, I know it’s the biggest gift in history, but clearly WITH strings).
On Dec 12, 2008, Fred said:
Well Harvard and Stanford are named after their founding donors, right? I think it just seems different for them because they’ve had those names for as long as we can remember. In 100 years (probably in 10) I think the Booth name will be second nature too. As for an effect on future endowment drives, I don’t see any evidence that bigger endowments result in smaller subsequent donations. Look at Harvard: biggest endowment by far, yet biggest additional donations year after year. And I think $300 million will make a difference. BusinessWeek says the business school’s endowment before this gift was $500 million, not $1.6 billion. That’s a pretty big boost, and aside from the naming there aren’t any strings attached as far as I know. Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but personally I see a nice upside and no downside.
On Dec 12, 2008, Fred said:
PS: Backstreet Boys are awesome. Any association with them is a bonus.