Talk:Stephen F. Austin State University

Has the university's official name been changed?

Mmoreno721 is claiming that this university's official name has been changed to "Stephen F. Austin State University, a member of The University of Texas System." So far, they have presented two sources as evidence: (a) the text of 88(R) SB 1055 - Senate Committee Report version and (b) a university website about the institution's new system affiliation. The first document does use this phrase but it's a primary source and we generally don't use them especially when they require expert interpretation (I'm not a lawyer or legislator but it's not clear to me if the law changes the name of the university or is using the phrase for some other purpose). I cannot find in the cited website where it says that the institution's official name has changed. In fact, there is a specific question in the website's FAQs that addresses this: "Will our name, logo, mascot or colors change? The UT System respects and would support the university’s desire to protect all things Lumberjack, including the name of Stephen F. Austin." That doesn't completely settle the issue, however, as the new official name that is being discussed still includes "Stephen F. Austin." So it appears that we still do not have conclusive evidence supporting this claim. ElKevbo (talk) 21:00, 2 July 2023 (UTC)

Although the website indicates the following "The UT System respects and would support the university’s desire to protect all things Lumberjack, including the name of Stephen F. Austin." later on in the webpage the legal name change is indicated to tentatively occur on September 1st, and read as follows "Under the new law, SFA will be "abolished" as an independent university on this date (or an alternative date determined by the UT System Board of Regents) and re-created as Stephen F. Austin State University, a member of The University of Texas System". As such this clearly states that the PR related name used for branding, media, etc. (being the current Stephen F. Austin State University/SFASU) will not change but the legal/official identity used to represent the institution will as required by the State Law verbiage. It is not unusual for Colleges/Universities to use separate PR related branding identities which differ from the legal/official name of the institution as this can allow for individual identities. An example of this can be seen with The Alamo Community Colleges District which often refers to itself as, The Alamo Colleges District, The Alamo Colleges, or simply ACD or ACCD with the former oft used in order to avoid confusion with The Austin Community College District (ACCD). 129.115.2.141 (talk) 13:29, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

Yes, there are institutions that have official names that are longer and more formal than the names that are most commonly used - no dispute there. But it's just not completely clear that's the case here. I agree that the most likely interpretation of the materials you've provided but we are wary of situations and sources where editors have to make their own interpretations. The university, the system, and the state would be a lot more helpful if they could acknowledge that the phrase is ambiguous in many contexts and make the title explicit (just use quotation marks or italics or something in a key document!). ElKevbo (talk) 01:49, 6 July 2023 (UTC)