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Marist students help college prepare for university rebrand

A promotional photo for Marist College, which will become Marist University on January 29.
Facebook: Marist College
A promotional photo for Marist College, which will become Marist University on January 29.

Marist College is about to become Marist University. As the college prepares to celebrate the upgrade next Wednesday, WAMC Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Jesse King stopped by to see how students are shaping its rebrand.

When sophomore fashion major Sydney Scheels agreed to model for Marist’s alumni magazine this fall, she learned some pretty big news: the college in Poughkeepsie was changing its name. The New York State Board of Regents officially granted Marist university status in December.

The latest edition of the magazine shows Scheels standing proudly with some fellow students, books in hand, with the words “Marist University” blazed across the cover.

“It was really exciting to hear the news, because a lot of my friends go to universities rather than colleges," says Scheels. "And a lot of people think of colleges as kind of tucked away, but I think the university name will give Marist more of a known status.” 

That’s certainly what private institution hopes. Marist President Kevin Weinman says the name change does not mean it will increase class sizes or alter its academic offerings, but he hopes it will help Marist better market itself to students and athletes beyond the Hudson Valley.

“We do think that this will help us tell our story better," he says. "Internationally, the word college means 'high school' or 'community college,' and so trying to appeal to talented international students who would love to come to Marist — and we would love to have them here — is difficult."

For the past month, Vice President of Communications and Marketing Daryl Richard has been tasked with figuring out what Marist’s story is, and how to launch its rebrand. Luckily, he had a head start: his office had already been surveying students, alumni, and high schools for over a year. Last spring, he taught a course where students came together to sculpt Marist’s story.

Junior business major Sierra Fisher was among them. She says her classmates wanted to promote two major aspects of Marist: its pre-professional training and its sense of community.

“One of the biggest things that I always go back to is my first week here. I was rushing to class, I was always nervous. I'm just a freshman here at college, I don't know what I'm doing — and everyone always opened the door for me," says Fisher. "No matter how late I was, no matter if I was rushing to get to my 8 a.m. [class]. They always made sure to hold the door open for me, even though I didn't know anybody."

The class, with Richard’s office, helped develop a marketing plan that includes student testimonials, promotional videos, and photoshoots like the one Scheels took part in.

With the name change, the school’s current logo will get a couple tweaks. The word “Marist” in clean, red letters will remain the same, but the word “university” will now be included underneath. It will also include a small shield on the left side, with a design from the original Marist College seal.

“The students in the class, and a lot of high school students we surveyed, said, to them, that’s sort of the moniker of a prestigious institution, having some type of mark next to the name," Richard explains.

Marist’s mascot will continue to be the red fox. And aside from some new stationary and a little bit of signage, much of the school’s appearance will stay the same. That stone wall engraved with the word “Marist” at the campus entrance? Richard sees no need to change that. Much of their merchandise dropped the word “college” a long time ago, so aside from a few new items incorporating the new logo, Richard says there won’t be an overhaul at the college gift shop, either.

“People are joking that if you can find something that says ‘Marist College,’ it’s a collector’s item. You’ll start seeing them in hot demand," laughs Richard. "But no, that makes the transition a little easier for us in that sense, and it’ll be a phased transition over time.”

Marist will celebrate its new story with a host of events for students and staff on Wednesday. Fisher says she’s proud of the change, and even more proud that she had a role in it.

"I just think it’s a great way to bring the community together," she notes. "And I really am enjoying learning, honestly, about different professors, different students that I, as a student here, didn’t even know about prior to this entire campaign process.”

Jesse King is the host of WAMC's national program on women's issues, "51%," and the station's bureau chief in the Hudson Valley. She has also produced episodes of the WAMC podcast "A New York Minute In History."