What do current and former students think of the rebranding of The University of Western Ontario to Western University?

Personally, as an alumnus I'm not particularly for it.  I understand the thought process behind it, as having a unified and recognizable brand image is much more manageable and solves the disconnect between the many different logos and insignia that have accumulated over the years.  Rolling out a new faculty-customizable logo and setting down the "official" Western purple colour is very useful and necessary.  That being said, it could have easily been done without changing the long-standing name of the institution.  It seems that UWO has always striven to be in the running with Ivy League schools of our southern neighbors.  Especially, since we have the "Ivey" School of Business.  Shortening the name of the school to one word, I think, was an attempt to sound similar to other Ivy League institutions like Harvard, Yale, Brown, etc.  It just seems silly to me that the name that has stood strong since 1878 was changed over a few hundred iPad surveys.  I believe there's not much point arguing over it now, as the changes have been made, but that being said... I'm happy my degree reads  The University Of Western Ontario... It just has an air of prestige.

As long as Western University keeps UWO as its official abbreviated name, this branding strategy does not seem sustainable. Western has held on to the old abbreviation while attempting to change their long-form brand name. The university has to have consistency in their brand name. If they decide to move to a WU abbreviation for Western University however, many people would confuse Western with a counterpart, Waterloo University. In this case, Western would need to increase awareness for this change and become the more prevalent WU. One way or the other, I believe the school should commit and be branded either University of Western Ontario with the abbreviation UWO, or Western University with the abbreviation WU.

As an Alum, I'm not in love with the name change, but it makes sense. I think it is an attempt to position the University as more national & global, than simply an Ontario institution, which is a positive forward thinking move. Go Stangs!

I was not a student there, but was a post-doc for two years, and again taught for a semester as a visiting faculty.  I was teaching there when the rebranding happened. It was not popular among the faculty.

UWO at the very best an educational institution, is still at the very least a business. The name shortening is a part of a more recognizable marketing tactic that in a few years will probably realize the fruits of the rebranding. As a current student, "UWO" feels more authentic since it is the name I have heard all my life.

Waste of money. The money spent on rebranding could have been given to more meaningful things like scholarships, etc.

It should never have been done. There are already universities called that. It's like "Coca-Cola" re-branding itself as "One Particular Cola Beverage". Very dumb move. And, yes--I am a University of Western Ontario grad (I was going to just say "UWO" but that might be confused with "University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh"

I don't especially like the rebranding. It has always been either UWO or just Western to most of us. When I first saw Western University I thought someone had confused it with another, possibly US, school.

What is UWO west of, aside from Toronto? As an alumn it seems pretty silly to me, and I can't imagine what the rest of Canada thinks of it.