Cal or Berkeley? Task force looks into naming, brand identity at UC Berkeley
BERKELEY -- A University of California, Berkeley task force is exploring how to improve the institution's brand identity after decades of students, staff, alumni, and fans using both of the terms "Berkeley" and "Cal" for the school.
Research by the university has found that more than half of people surveyed nationally did not know those names refer to the same institution.
"We're not quite aware of another school that has this exact problem," said Cameron Deptula, a senior at UC Berkeley who is studying History and Public Policy and the only student on the Berkeley/Cal Identity Task Force. "What we're really trying to find is a way to link these two brands without harming the history that informs both of them."
In a letter explaining the mission of the task force, Chancellor Carol T. Christ said it will review data on the university's various names and best practices for branding. After engaging all appropriate communities that would be impacted and considering the implications of changes to the school's identity, the task force will develop a naming framework for the campus to move forward from the current confusion.
"Your work should be in support of furthering our mission and, among other things outlined below, help us to foster a sense of inclusion and belonging on campus," Christ said.
The document mentions several names used to identify the campus including "University of California, Berkeley," "UC Berkeley," "Cal," "California" and "Berkeley." Deptula said the data before the task force shows that "Cal" and "Berkeley" are seen as different institutions nationally and around California, even in parts of the Bay Area.
"The University of California is part of the origin story of my family," said Bill Reichle, chief of staff of administration and assistant vice chancellor.
An alumnus who has worked for UC Berkeley for years, Reichle has watched the evolution of the school's brand identity up close, including from generation to generation in his family.
"Being an alumnus and working on campus, I talk all day, every day, about the place and I can say Cal, California, Berkeley, UC Berkeley almost interchangeably," said Reichle.
His grandparents met at Berkeley, so did his parents, and Reichle met his wife on campus as well. Three generations capture the changes in name preference from "UC" in the 1920s when there was only one University of California, to "Cal" decades later, and eventually "Berkeley" becoming more common along with other names.
Now there are multiple UC campuses in the university system and California has so many colleges as the most populous state in the union. All these factors add to the current state of identity for the school, which does not have one name unifying its community. "UC Berkeley" is the preferred term for academics and research while "Cal" covers athletics and school spirit.
"People have said, 'where did you go to school?' and I said 'California' and they said 'Where?' so it doesn't work," Reichle said.
He is not a member of the task force but has watched the branding change over the decades in his own collection of school memorabilia like college pennants and from his discussions with alumni.
"The experience they had was all different because the university evolves but everyone had that common sense of value and love for this place," he said.
Even as a university ranked consistently as the top public institution in the country for years, branding can be essential to attracting the best students and faculty, as well as grants and funding for the school. Current students and alumni agree that by exploring its identity and how to unify the love behind "Cal" and "Berkeley," the campus has much to gain.
"The exciting challenge before this committee is if they can unify the brand, can it be even better," Reichle said. "Either way, it's going to represent how people love this place."
Deptula says some of the confusion has come from people never interacting with the school. When he wears a "Cal" shirt in his home state of Hawaii, people ask him which campus of the California State University system he attends since they are more familiar with Cal State schools.
"At this point, it's really how to find a way to take these two identities and bring them together," Deptula said.
The charge letter from the chancellor says the recommendation from the task force should come no later than Dec. 31, 2022.
