Rianne Quigley
Staff Writer
Idaho State University has done me a great service. In fall 2018, I walked through the doors of Rendezvous as a transfer student, unsure of school and three bad moments away from bolting out of college life. I was on edge and not sure that my idea to transfer was a great idea.
Within the week, I felt secure in my decision. Idaho State University was and is the place for me to go to school.
At every turn and request for help, I found professors and other faculty who are not only willing but incredibly happy to help me with whatever I need and to meet me in the middle. The people who I’ve talked to who work at and attend Idaho State love this school, and want to see it grow and I agree.
I was relieved to hear about the rebranding efforts that President Satterlee announced. Idaho State University has always seemed to lag behind other universities when it came to advertising and branding.
I transferred from a larger university that has extensive branding and advertising. It was inevitable that, even if you never actively bought anything from the university store, items emblazoned with a logo or a mascot or a number of things associated with the school would end up in your belongings.
It was common to see billboards, video advertisements, and sometimes radio ads for this school as well.
All these efforts pay off however, this school has a culture and messaging that is extremely effective. It creates a close knit and proud student body. It creates expectations that the university is prepared to meet.
I think Idaho State University has those things as well. But the messaging of our advertising needs to be updated to reflect that.
It needs to reflect that we have professors and faculty working hard to better Idaho State University every day, that work to be a source of encouragement for their students.
It needs to reflect that there are multiple groups on campus that work to create a welcoming and diverse environment on campus. And that there are groups that compete in various events and represent their school in a way we can be proud of.
If this new update to the branding can reflect that, then we will draw the sort of people who are looking for that and will add to that environment just by being here.
I also hope this rebranding effort will bring to light to the many programs and groups at ISU that are wonderful but no one, even a large majority of the current student population, seem to know about.
There are other parts of Idaho State University that need improvement, but there always is. The efforts to rebrand are a huge step in the right direction. This is a school to be proud of, and the message we put forward needs to acknowledge that.
