The month of July, normally a placid time in Commerce, has this year been marked by a controversy over a proposed rebranding of Texas A&M University-Commerce.
In late June, rumors of an imminent name change involving “Dallas” began to circulate, and an online petition, Stop the Renaming of Texas A&M University-Commerce, was created on July 2. The university confirmed the existence of discussions of a possible name change on July 3.
The following week, A&M-Commerce officials organized a series of public forums on campus to discuss the topic. The university presented forums during business hours on July 11, 12, and 15. The series concluded with an evening forum on July 16. Each forum featured an opening presentation from university president Dr. Mark Rudin, followed by an open microphone period for public comment. The meetings were also viewable online, via Zoom. A&M-Commerce staff now encourage feedback on the topic to be sent to a dedicated email address, rebrand@tamuc.edu.
Attendance at the forums varied, but the university estimated in-person attendance at the four forums averaging about 50-75, with online attendance averaging 100-150.
Attention now turns to the next meeting of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, the governing body that controls the 11 universities and other public agencies in the A&M System. The next meeting of the Board of Regents is scheduled for July 31-Aug. 2 in College Station. The agenda for that meeting has not been published publicly. The system website indicates agenda submissions were due July 1, with finalized items to have been sent to the board on July 16.
Rudin began the final forum on July 16 by saying he’d asked the Board of Regents to not include any vote on a rebranding of the university on the next meeting’s agenda.
“I have requested that (the Chancellor and the Board of Regents Chair) take off any action of rebranding at the August 1st meeting,” Rudin said. “I do not control that. You understand that I can make that request, but at the end of the day, it's up to the Board of Regents to say.”
Rudin asserts importance of Dallas market for university’s enrollment growth
Before members of the in-person and online audience presented their questions and comments, Rudin gave a brief outline of the situation as it is, presented a case for a review of the university name, and addressed a few concerns in advance.
“When I first got this job I was asked by the chancellor to expand A&M-Commerce into Dallas,” Rudin said. Rudin succeeded Dr. Ray Keck as the university’s 13th president in 2018.
The first part of Rudin’s presentation described the university’s current Dallas site, which is composed of two floors of 8750 North Central Expressway, a mid-rise office tower near the intersection with Loop 12. In the Fall 2023 Semester, the university served more than 2,000 students at the site, Rudin said. The university says it will begin leasing two more floors in the building in November.
Rudin explained that the Dallas site is not a campus, which by definition must include autonomous executive-level administration, he said. The two floors at 8750 North Central Expressway is properly described as an “instructional site,” he said.
“In this structure right now that we have that serves A&M Commerce, we have a main campus, where our administration resides, and five other sites,” Rudin said. In addition to the Dallas site, known officially as A&M-Commerce at Dallas, the university also operates A&M-Commerce at the Collin Higher Education Center in McKinney, A&M-Commerce at Mesquite Metroplex Center, and A&M-Commerce at Navarro College in Corsicana. A&M-Commerce also participates in the multi-institution collaborative in College Station known as the Texas A&M-RELLIS Technology and Innovation Campus.
The presentation included various slides showing the increasing percentage of A&M-Commerce students coming from the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Rudin said that a new A&M System university in Dallas would be in direct competition with A&M-Commerce, to their mutual detriment.
While Rudin did not specifically say that the A&M System is having regrets about its 1996 renaming of East Texas State University as Texas A&M University-Commerce, he did identify concerns with the university’s name as it is. Rudin cited a university-commissioned study of North Texas residents aged 18-25, only two percent of whom could, without prompting, list A&M-Commerce as a university in the North Texas region.
Commerce, the city, does not have much name recognition outside of Northeast Texas and adjacent regions. Since commerce, the word, also means “business,” the name “Texas A&M University-Commerce” and its variants (“A&M-Commerce,” “Texas A&M-Commerce”) is potentially confusing. Many hearing the name think it’s a business school or some other agency or program related to Texas A&M University in College Station, Rudin said. He described Zoom interviews with job applicants who thought they were applying to work in College Station.
Rudin answers concerns about the proposal and the process
Some of the presentation anticipated concerns, such as the idea that the Commerce campus will be neglected or that the university’s administrative center could be moved to Dallas. Rudin said the Commerce campus will remain the administrative hub, regardless of any name changes. He also said that while “Texas A&M University-Dallas” is under consideration, “Texas A&M University-Dallas at Commerce” is not being considered, either as a name for the university or for the Commerce campus.
Rudin also pointed out plans for a multipurpose events center on State Highway 24 as evidence of the university’s commitment to Commerce. The facility is being designed to host the university’s basketball and volleyball games, graduation ceremonies, and performances. Basketball, volleyball, and graduation ceremonies are currently held at The Field House, constructed in 1951 and renovated in 1969 and 1991.
Rudin also acknowledged frustration with the awkwardness of the process, specifically how word of the possible name change first surfaced as unconfirmed rumors in June before the university eventually confirmed the existence of the discussions on July 3.
“A couple of months ago, we rolled it out to a number of different groups,” Rudin said of the name-change proposal. A&M-Commerce Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Michael Johnson confirmed that the name change was discussed before July 3 with the Texas A&M University-Commerce Alumni Association and the Texas A&M University-Commerce Foundation Board.
“It was a little disappointing,” Rudin said regarding word of the discussions being leaked before any official university statement.
Alumna Amber Estes Porterfield, who graduated from East Texas State University in 1996, said the awkwardness of people finding out by rumor rather than official channels brings back memories of the divisive 1996 name change.
“I just think we need to communicate better and just let people know exactly what’s going on,” Porterfield said.
Majority of speakers reject “Dallas” in the university’s name
Members of the university community who spoke at the July forums mostly opposed the name “Texas A&M University-Dallas” or any name including “Dallas.” Objections included the geographic distance to Dallas (roughly 66 miles between downtowns) and the inaccuracy of “Dallas” as a descriptor of a university with a history and culture founded in rural Northeast Texas.
“I will not be sharing my opinion on what the name on the sign outside should be,” A&M-Commerce alumna and Frisco resident Candace Kuzov said. “I will only say that it shouldn't use the word Dallas. And nothing in the presentations presented have really shown me otherwise.”
Many favored keeping the name as it is. Some lauded the name for its inclusion of “Commerce.” McKinney attorney Gladys Marcos, an alumna of the university as well as Commerce public schools, expressed pride in the current name, under which the university has experienced growth and success.
“This institution has made its name as it is,” Marcos said. “We are having olympians, on the biggest stages of the world, with the name A&M-Commerce. They are proud. A&M-Commerce social media – we boast of all these alums that have done beautiful things. And then to tell us that this name is not good enough anymore? I don’t think that’s a conversation we should have.”
Some of those present favored other nomenclatures, such as “East Texas A&M University,” a name many hoped would emerge from the 1996 rebrand. One speaker advocated for revival of the name “East Texas State University.” Options discussed also included “Northeast Texas A&M University” and “Texas A&M University-Northeast.”
“I'm going to have to say that East Texas A&M is the best opportunity here,” university student and Commerce resident Adam Morris said.
Conversations continue online as next TAMUS Board of Regents meeting approaches
Area newspapers have published editorials opposing the change. The Greenville Herald Banner published an opinion piece by former Commerce Journal editor George S. Smith on July 15, followed by an in-house editorial July 17 opposing the name change. The Sulphur Springs News Telegram published a guest column opposing the change July 16.
Opposition to the name change has coalesced on social media as the Facebook page Lions4Commerce, which also has a presence on Instagram and X. Posts there include discussion of a July 8 email sent on behalf of the university’s marketing office that described a freeze on any edits at the university website, beginning July 17 and ending August 2.
“Please note that the Texas A&M University-Commerce website will undergo scheduled updates from July 17 through August 2, 2024,” the email said. “No edits or revisions may be made to university-owned web pages during this period.”
Some online deride the July forums as merely performative, designed only to create the illusion of a public process. The decision to rename as Texas A&M University-Dallas has been made in advance, they say, and any discussion of keeping the current name or bringing “East Texas” back into the name is wishful thinking only.
“These forums seem to be mere facades,” wrote Commerce resident Omar Brown on the Lions4Commerce Facebook page. “I have no trust in them,” Brown posted.
Rudin acknowledged this skepticism at the July 16 meeting.
“I know there are people out there that don't believe a word I'm saying,” Rudin said. “I can’t do anything about that. All I can do is give you the best information I have and I know.”
Rudin directed all feedback on the topic to the rebrand@tamuc.edu email address.
“The deal has not been struck,” Rudin said. “It’s not a done deal.”
Rudin also asked that people detail the reasons behind their positions, as well as stating them.
“Please put it in writing,” Rudin said. “We want to document it.”
