Brad Hollerbach is the Director of Information Technology for the Southeast Missourian. His opinions are his own and do not reflect those of the newspaper or its editorial board. He writes this blog primarily for his own amusement and to parody the absurdities of the world we live in. He lives with his wife and two cats that don't really care for one another in Cape.

University Should Embrace Long-Time Nickname

Posted Thursday, April 29, 2010, at 12:00 AM

While applying the second coat of joint compound on a large plaster repair job I have recently undertaken, my mind started wandering as it usually does when I'm doing solitary, monotonous work.

On this occasion I started to think of all the nicknames I've heard Southeast Missouri State University called over the years.

SEMO, SCREMO, Swampeast, Cape Retardo when the city was used in referring to the school, and K-Mart U all came quickly to mind.

Obviously, none of them are particular flattering. SEMO is the least disparaging, but even it can have a negative spin if said in a snidely sort of way.

For the record, I never created any of these sobriquets. They apparently have been in use long before I ever attended the University in the 1980s. I was first introduced to a couple of these nicknames by my 6-grade teacher, an alumnus of Southeast's education program. She was one of several teachers I had throughout the years who also got their degrees from SEMO and also referred to their alma mater by those same nicknames.

But it was the last nickname -- K-Mart U -- that got me thinking while trowling on joint compound. Obviously, it is meant to belittle the university. Since K-Mart is a discount retailer the implication is that SEMO is a discount university.

Frankly, the university already promotes that image to a degree. My nephew has been looking at colleges and recently toured both Southeast and Missouri Science and Technology at Rolla.

His father said that Southeast representatives stressed that it was a good value for the money. However, MS&T emphasized that if they accepted you and if you would graduate with one of their engineering degrees that you would make more money than you would know what to do with right out of college.

I'm not sure if the post-graduation potential compensation was what attracted my nephew or the various engineering program options, but it looks like he will be going to Rolla in the fall.

But the loss of my nephew shouldn't be discouraging to the folks at Southeast who are in charge of recruiting new students. After all, our University doesn't have an engineering program so we can't really compete with the Rollas of the world in that regard.

Actually, I think that is the key to any success: Identify what you are good at and then promote the daylights out of it. In short, go with your strengths. Rolla has a strong engineering program and makes sure that everyone knows it.

So what if Southeast doesn't have an engineering program, it doesn't matter. That is not a strength of the University and likely never will be.

But if Southeast's strength happens to be that it offers a college education at a cheaper price than comparable institutions then, by golly, I think the University should promote that fact to the hilt.

Since SEMO is already known unofficially as "K-Mart U" and has since at least the late 1970s, I think the administration should not pussyfoot around the fact and embrace that image with arms wide open.

Be K-Mart U and be proud of it, I say. If you want a good education at a fair price, Southeast is your school.

And with a few minor modifications to Academic Hall, Southeast will be hard for prospective students to miss.

Just watch for the Blue Light Specials.

(Photo)

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Need one on the new Scully-Rhodes fountain and on the top of the River Campus theatre too.

-- Posted by mynameismud on Thu, Apr 29, 2010, at 1:40 AM
Good question, Rick. I think "a good educational value" might currently be the University's "engineering program."

That's not a rep I would want to hang my hat on academically, but the University obviously is trying to find things to make it standout in an increasingly crowded field of higher-education.

Besides the College of Business, and Industrial and Engineering Technology, and various nationally accredited programs, and of course, the $54 million River Campus, I heard that Southeast was recently named to the "US News and World Report List of Universities With Convenient Parking." That's pretty impressive.

Thanks for reading.

-- Posted by Brad_Hollerbach on Thu, Apr 29, 2010, at 8:43 AM
Best part. . .they already have tons of blue lights scattered all around campus, at every emergency call station. . .

Then again, maybe they have secretly embraced the "K-Mart U" persona and are in denial. I know they absolutely hate "SEMO" which is weird in this world of acronyms and such. I know the powers that be must cringe everytime they get "lucky enough" to be featured in a televised athletic event, and SEMO is used as the abbreviation to identify the school for scoring. . .

The University should embrace "SEMO" and get over it. It's where they are, a physical location, and is in no way detrimental to their image. I have various memorabilia throughout the years produced specifically for the university touting "SEMO" instead of Southeast Missouri State University.

-- Posted by Bushman_212 on Thu, Apr 29, 2010, at 10:27 AM
SEMO University: The 7-11 of higher education

-- Posted by Yankee Station on Thu, Apr 29, 2010, at 10:27 AM
My better half attended 3 universities as a non-traditional student, and she thought SEMO was the best of the lot. Many of the educators I had in high school attended SEMO, and one of my college profs at another university received her degree from SEMO. An education is what you make of it. Excuse me while I get back to driving the trash truck...

-- Posted by Hugh M Bean on Thu, Apr 29, 2010, at 10:55 AM
I attended SEMO (yes I prefer that name) in two different chunks. One right out of HS 1967-69 and later finished with degree 1979-81 after my husband was discharged from Air Force and had finished his marketing degree at SEMO. His marketing degree served him in an awesome way. He retired well-off, after being a partner in large insurance firm. I got the BS Ed degree with major in communication disorders and pysch minor. I was very well prepared for the jobs I took on after graduation. I retired in 2007 with 27 years in the education/special education field.

If I've made any typo's, please forgive, as I'm taking meds for non life-threatening illness and

am just not myself lately. Don't know why the last few lines of text are spaced out ???

-- Posted by Speechone on Thu, Apr 29, 2010, at 12:38 PM
Sorry for the delay in responding. I was away from my computer.

Nil, there were seven guys from my high school graduating class who started at Rolla and only 2 made it past freshmen year. UMR certainly was tough in 1985. However, I could tell from talking with my brother-in-law that Rolla is working very hard on retention. My nephew had to write a 400-word essay just for admission to A DORM where it sounds like they focus more on retention -- study groups, tutoring, etc -- rather than the social aspects of residence life.

I like SEMO too, Bushman. It was SEMO when I was a student. That might not be locally politically-correct, but I've never been too PC.

Hugh, I can't agree with you more. "An education is what you make of it." Doesn't matter if you are going to SEMO or an Ivy League school.

TFR

-- Posted by Brad_Hollerbach on Thu, Apr 29, 2010, at 2:34 PM
too bad SEMO is discount quality, but at top shelf pricing..."Come to SEMO, you get less for your money!!!"

-- Posted by jacksonjazzman on Fri, Apr 30, 2010, at 1:24 PM
To the point -- I like SEMO as an acronym. AND I still like the SEMO Indians. The Jayhawks can fly! Sure hope image money isn't spent to change SEMO. Will SEMO bump-up now that a new community college is in the works. Let's discuss that -- PC or not.

-- Posted by HFChapel on Tue, May 4, 2010, at 12:06 AM
Another point -- I still can't remember Redhawks after several years.

-- Posted by HFChapel on Tue, May 4, 2010, at 12:07 AM
I attended SEMO during the brief period they tried to be "SEMSU" ... making the college sound like a dojo from the Karate Kid...

-- Posted by thewaterboy on Wed, May 5, 2010, at 8:06 AM

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