Laramie County Community College President Joe Schaffer on Monday announced plans to change the school's name to Wyoming State College and said the reason boils down to one word: Survival.
Schaffer, who has been at the helm of the Cheyenne two-year school for nearly 15 years, said the rebranding could cost close to $1 million but it is nevertheless crucial to future success. Since the school began the project four years ago, it has spent about $280,000 for legal work, preparatory work, consultants, surveys, and polling.
“We’ve had thousands of voices in this process,” Schaffer told Cowboy State Daily in an interview after the announcement.
The move is necessary to attract more regional students, he told more than a hundred LCCC employees, alumni and other supporters at a reception. The change also will prevent potential out-of-state students from confusing it with the city of Laramie and Larimer County, Colorado.
Half of Wyoming survey respondents said “Laramie County” creates confusion about the college’s location, Schaffer said.
“There is a brand-reality gap between what we’ve accomplished and what we offer, and what our name communicates, especially the farther we get out of Laramie County,” he said. “While our name has served us incredibly well for nearly 60 years, we’ve grown beyond it. The name change is not cosmetic, it’s a perception reset.”
The most expensive portion of the next steps will be changing the signage on the buildings and entrances to the college, Schaffer said.
“The good news is we can manage it over time and as we’re able to,” he said.
LCCC’s Board of Trustees will consider officially adopting the new name at its Sept. 16 meeting. If approved, it would go into effect in July 2027.
‘The Numbers Aren’t There’
Schaffer cast the name change as something the institution needs for its very survival amid tough economic times and lower enrollment in higher education throughout the country.
Between now and 2041, he noted, Wyoming’s annual high school graduate population is projected to drop by 1,700, or 22%. Schaffer said “the numbers just aren’t there” unless the college takes a more regional approach to recruiting students.
“Southern Oregon University could very well be the first public university to face closing as a result of enrollment declines and financial pressure,” he said. “That is truly the environment we are facing.
“There will be winners and losers in higher education. And those that win will continue to create a pipeline of talent for the communities they serve, and for those that don’t, many communities will struggle.”
Schaffer said many people do not realize that LCCC offers bachelor’s degrees in selected applied fields with workforce needs, residence halls, and 30 certification programs, including a 16-week course for data center workers.
At Schaffer's annual “State of the College” address to the full campus Monday morning, “Wyoming State College” was met with applause. It was again during the public announcement in the afternoon in the Clay Pathfinder Building.
“People seem excited,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “I think the recommended name will resonate well with people, especially here in southeast Wyoming.”
“I think it’s a step up,” Larry Atwell, former executive director of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, said of the new name. “They’re doing a lot more, they are a state college, they draw from across the state. It should be just one level below the university.”
There are no plans to change the athletic teams’ name, the Golden Eagles, or the blue-and-gold logo colors. Schaffer said they are both extremely popular and would unnecessarily add to the cost of the rebranding.
LCCC Lost First Vote
The first time Laramie County voters were asked to approve the proposed community college in 1966, they rejected it.
“The community said we don’t need it, we’ve got the university close, why would we waste taxpayer dollars on that?” Schaffer said.
But proponents won on their second try in May 1968. Opponents still tried to block the project. They delivered J.O. Reed, the first Board of Trustees’ chairman, a cease-and-desist order as he climbed onto the backhoe during the groundbreaking ceremony.
Reed merely stuffed the sealed envelope in his pocket and ground was broken according to plan. He didn’t realize what he was given until after the ceremony.
“That obstinance, that stubbornness to go against people who said ‘we don’t need this’ is embedded in our culture and our roots,” Schaffer said. “And it’s been what’s created an amazing institution.”
Initially classes for 1,200 students were conducted at various locations throughout the city, but a three-building campus southeast of Cheyenne opened in the fall of 1969. Twenty-two buildings have been added since.
Surprised Name Is Available
Schaffer called the new name clear and concise. “It anchors us in Wyoming,” he said. “‘State’ anchors us to the capital city. It’s elevated, it recognizes the breadth of what we offer and what we do.”
Schaffer called his recommendation “future-proof” and one that will last beyond the college’s next half-century.
He’s also surprised the name hadn’t been scooped up by any of the other Wyoming community colleges when they went through their own rebranding processes.
“Believe it or not it’s ownable,” Schaffer said. “The fact that no one has claimed that was a bit of a shock to us.”
For the audience he divided the suggested names into three categories. Schaffer said the first, which included “Southeast Wyoming College” and “Cheyenne Community College,” were safe and fit the mold.
The second batch all conveyed a sense of place: “Frontier College,” which the president said he “actually kind of liked,” and “College of the High Plains.” But Schaffer said it was the third category, which took “a strategic position and solved our problem” where “Wyoming State College” was selected.
Cost Is Top Concern
In a video LCCC shared in December to explain the name-change process, Schaffer said the No. 1 concern people ask about is the expense.
“They say, ‘Isn’t this going to cost a lot of money at a time when we’re saying we need to be more frugal with our resources? We’re asking more from our state and community, is this a good investment?’” he said.
Schaffer explained two types of costs: Ongoing costs of helping the institution succeed, and the opportunity cost of not doing something.
He said LCCC spends about $900,000 a year on academic scholarships.
“We could take a million dollars and for one year we could invest in these areas,” Schaffer said. “And after that one year those scholarship funds are gone and we’ll have to find funds to hire the faculty and staff to do the work that we can do.
“But that same investment to change the brand, change the name, reinvigorate what people think and say about us, will stay with us for decades.”
Schaffer said the college is on track to have its sixth consecutive fall enrollment increase, and said the number of graduates has set records the past two years.
He also said the college is bucking the “brain drain” trend that’s seen about two-thirds of Wyoming-born residents leave the state by the time they turn 30.
“We have 62% of our graduates working in Wyoming after they graduate, not including those who go on to the University of Wyoming,” Schaffer said. “We bring them here, we keep them here.”
