CHEYENNE — We always called the local college L-Triple C because that was its name.
Laramie County Community Community College is a sprawling cluster of buildings in southeast Cheyenne.
It has grown substantially from its beginnings in the offices of a strip mall on Randall Avenue in the center of Cheyenne in the late 1960s.
Beginning July 1, 2027, it will be known as Wyoming State College.
Despite appeals for delay to allow more discussion from representatives of the Wyoming Community College Commission and Central Wyoming College in Riverton, the L-Triple C Board of Trustees voted unanimously for the name change.
The members reasoned that after four years debating a change, this was the best they could do.
I think what the opponents object to primarily is the word “state” in the title. They said it seemed to give the Cheyenne school more status than the other local colleges, as well as contributing to the confusion over names.
College name changing has been in motion for several years.
In Wyoming, the other local colleges have dropped the word “community” as they expanded their curriculum to offer four-year bachelor degree programs.
This step was taken by the votes of trustees with not much fanfare.
They wanted to upgrade their status and erase their old image as two-year junior colleges.
Trustees of the Rock Springs community college earlier this year voted to change its name to Western Wyoming College. That’s a great name — a whiff of the wild west that could appeal to prospective students.
The other seven local colleges are Casper College, Central Wyoming College at Riverton, Eastern Wyoming College at Torrington, Gillette College, Laramie County Community College at Cheyenne, Northwest College at Powell and Sheridan College.
During last week’s board of trustee meeting for the college, President Joe Schaffer said the college has outgrown its LCCC brand.
The new name, Schaffer said according to internet sources, will more clearly identify with Cheyenne and Wyoming, instead of Laramie County.
The current name is misleading when the college tries to recruit students from outside Laramie County, Schaffer said. The college goal is to reach prospective students within a 350-mile radius of Cheyenne.
They confuse LCCC with Laramie, Wyoming, or Larimer County, Colorado, and they may not be aware of the range of programs offered by the college today.
He also said the new name is “ownable,” meaning no other entity has claimed it.
LCCC officials, he said, began studying the college’s brand and reputation in 2022, and have since gathered input from thousands of people.
The research found a gap between what LCCC offers and what its current name communicates, particularly outside Laramie County.
Several potential names were considered before Schaffer recommended Wyoming State College, such as Southeast Wyoming College, College of the High Plains, Wyoming Capital College, and more.
He said his recommendation was “not cosmetic and not decorative.”
It certainly is not.
I think it is kind of lame. I find more appeal in “College of the High Plains.” Or something with “Frontier” in it, since Cheyenne was a frontier town.
But apparently that is not what the trustees want. So the college has a new brand, but it has no boots or lace. It has just a plain cotton frock.
It should wear well, though.
On the national level, meanwhile, heaving out old college names for new is in high gear.
One impending change in Virginia is causing a major backlash.
Virginia Wesleyan University will soon become Batten University to honor longtime donor Jane Batten and her late husband, Frank Batten, co-founder of The Weather Channel.
The couple already gave the college millions of dollars for a student center and other projects. Each year, their donations also support eight professors and provide 80 students with full scholarships and another 80 with three-quarter scholarships, according to online sources.
Opponents to the name change, including many alums, claim the new name strips the college of its long-term identity. The board of directors was undeterred and approved the name change to Batten University, which will take place barring a lawsuit to stop it.
Contact Joan Barron at 307-632-2534 or jmbarron@bresnan.net
