CHEYENNE — The Laramie County Community College men's basketball team hails from around the world — Dubai, France, London, Wyoming, Nebraska, Idaho and Florida.
None of them have ever heard of the college’s longtime unofficial nickname, "Last Chance Cowboy College."
They came here on scholarships to play basketball and because the college has strong academic programs, so they don’t see it as some sort of “last chance” place. To them, it’s a place of opportunity.
But the name of the college can be confusing, they told Cowboy State Daily. That's because the college isn’t in the town of Laramie, but in the Laramie County town of Cheyenne.
Despite that, they weren’t too sure about a name change for the community college.
In fact, they were surprised to learn the college is considering changing its name.
“They’re changing the name?” T.J. Coulter asked, perplexed.
“What are they changing it to?” Josiah Ochoa wondered.
Ochoa, who is from Dubai, and Coulter, from Nevada, along with Matt Tilly Charon of France and Isaac Fiagbe of London, said they’d be for making the name “L-Trip” because that’s what everyone uses anyway.
Their counterparts, Karim Elgizawy, who is from Egypt, Brevin Phillips of Iowa and Lewis Dyer of Florida, felt the name should stay the same — or at most change to Cheyenne Community College, which would preserve the “Triple C” nickname.
The name might be a little confusing, Elgizawy said. It’s not that big a deal, Dyer and Phillips added.
Renting The Wrong Apartment
None of the men on the basketball team were so confused by the college’s location that they rented an apartment in Laramie. But that’s something that has happened to other students, said LCCC President Joe Schaffer.
“We have had students rent apartments in Laramie before they get here thinking that’s where they are,” Schaffer said. “People say, ‘Well, people can figure that out.' But it’s just confusing.”
It became apparent that type of confusion was more than just a few students after the college started doing some marketing surveys to better understand why people do and don’t choose LCCC for their education.
Lots of people highlighted confusion over the college’s location in those surveys, but the issues with its name run deeper than just that, Schaffer said.
The name is no longer capturing the opportunities LCCC offers. It has bachelor degree programs and a residence hall, things most people do not associate with community colleges.
The surveys showed that the word “community” is leading many to summarily dismiss what would otherwise be a good, affordable option suitable to their educational needs, Schaffer said.
That matters for the college’s future because most states in America, including Wyoming, are projected to see dramatically fewer high school graduates.
“By 2040, there will be nine institutions in the state competing for about 1,800 college-going students," Schaffer said.
That means LCCC needs to find a new pipeline of students if it wants to maintain a viable program.
A likely source of those students are surrounding states like Colorado and Utah, which have growing populations.
At the same time, improving the pipeline of students from surrounding states coming into Wyoming could help solve some of the state’s brain-drain problem, Schaffer said. That’s where 60% of the state’s college graduates leave Wyoming by the time they’re 30.
“One of the things we believe at the college is that the community college is — really all higher education in Wyoming — is a great value,” he said. “And could be part of that conduit to bring young people to the state, educate the, get them to stay, get them to work and do all those things, which means we have to look at other markets for that pipeline.”
Not The College I Remember
Lots of people weighed in against a name change on LCCC’s Facebook page, and several mentioned their unofficial names, Last Chance Community College or Last Chance Cowboy College, with some affection.
“I loved my time at LCCC, even though it was known as Last Chance Cowboy College, compared to being an outreach student at UW, which I hated,” Michelle McLean wrote about the college changing its name. “I’d rather LCCC NOT be rebranded. It’s really not that hard to understand where the college is located.”
McClean also said she’d like to see more bachelor's degree opportunities at the school, something the college didn’t have when she attended but does now.
“This was like 15 years ago,” she said. “I haven’t heard it referred to Last Chance Cowboy College in years. I’ve heard it’s gotten so much better in the years since I’ve attended, but I really enjoyed my time there.”
Schaffer has heard a few versions of the unofficial name of the college.
“I’ve heard Last Chance Cowboy College, Last Chance Community College, I’ve heard it all,” he said. “That’s mostly gone by the wayside with our younger populations.”
Parents of some of the students still remember the name, though, and sometimes that presents a problem.
“We had a young lady from Gillette, and I met her dad at move-in day, and her dad said, ‘I could not figure out why my daughter wanted to come here,’” Schaffer said.
But now that the father was on the campus, he could see things had changed dramatically since he knew it as Last Chance Community College.
LCCC has a manufacturing center now devoted to developing young entrepreneurs in addition to its two bachelor’s degrees, and a new residence hall.
It’s expanded its nursing programs, added programs like theater, arts, community orchestra — things more commonly found at a more regional institution.
“It’s not the college I remember,” Schaffer said the man told him.
“But that’s the perception,” Schaffer said. “And it’s tied to some of that connotation of the name, so we’ve got those challenges.”
Careful With That
Community Colleges have been dropping the word “community” from their names for a long time now, retired LCCC president Charles Bohlen told Cowboy State Daily.
Some, like Gillette College, don’t even put the word in their names to begin with as it’s become that out-dated.
“It’s a trend,” Bohlen said. “I served as interim president one year at Trinidad State Junior College (in Colorado), but once they started offering some bachelor’s degrees, they got rid of the word, ‘junior,' which is a very old name for community colleges.”
Bohlen said he considered a name change for LCCC while he was president of the college from 1992 to 2006. Ultimately, he decided it wasn’t the right time.
“At the time when I was there, we belonged to the people of Laramie County,” he said. “So, I thought it was important that the name Laramie County be in the name. And we were a true community college at that time.
"We offered the first two years of a bachelor’s degree, all the way through one- or two-year programs and technical education. So, community very much said the name.”
Since then, LCCC has added many things to its programs that go well beyond what people’s perception of a community college would be, Bohlen said. He can see the case for a name change now, though he recommends caution.
Brand loyalties and divisive politics have led name and logo changes to go awry in recent memory, like Cracker Barrel’s attempt to create a “streamlined” logo that was criticized by some as going “woke."
“You do have to be careful with it, because you develop quite an identity around the name,” he said. “We were, very proudly when I was there, Laramie County Community College, but we were a local college with a regional approach.
"So, we marketed ourselves in a region, not just to the people of Laramie County. That’s something they have to take in mind, too, is how broad is the mission and where do they see themselves serving.”
Six-Figure Process
What the new name will be hasn’t been decided yet. Choosing it will be part of an overall rebranding process that will unfold in coming days and weeks, likely over a minimum 18-month timeline, Schaffer said.
The cost will depend on the overall outcome of the process.
“If you’re doing a very simple name change, like dropping the ‘community,' you can edit, amend, and change things relatively simply,” he said. “Others have gone with a completely different name, as well as a mascot change, color change, brand change and things like that.”
The cost of the overall name change is likely to be in the six-figure range depending on what the new name is and other decisions, Schaffer said.
“It’s really going to be unique to our own journey,” Schaffer said. “But I think what’s important to understand is the board approved the intent to move forward but has not said flip the switch. I think that’s important because we don’t know the true logistics. We don’t know the full extent.
"One of the things that’s been proposed is maybe part of it is just shifting to the acronym, like we’ve seen with FNBO, First National Bank of Omaha, or Western Governor’s University, which is now WGU or IBM, you know, pick your flavor.”
Schaffer has had people ask if there will be a contest to develop a new name, and that’s something he can’t answer yet.
“I imagine we’ll have a steering group or committee that will kind of shepherd and oversee that part of the process,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll have both internal and external people as well as students involved with that. And we’ll certainly engage the public broadly in the discussion and the solicitation of ideas.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
