NORTHEAST NAME CHANGE DESERVES CONSIDERATION

Northeast Missouri State University wants a new, more distinctive name. Officials at Northeast believe the name, which has served the school for decades, breeds confusion and discounts the changed role of the Kirksville institution. While doubting any wide~spread confusion or geographical calamity has been touched off by Northeast's longstanding name, we acknowledge the school's claim, because of its revamped mission, to update its nomenclature.

Northeast has established, with academic boldness, a Commission to Study the University Name, a group whose findings are expected by summer's end. The institution took this step because the name Northeast Missouri State remains a throwback to the days when it was among the state's regional universities. Southeast Missouri State University was a sister institution.

In 1985, the Missouri General Assembly changed the mission of Northeast Missouri State, designating the Kirksville institution as the state's school of liberals arts and sciences. Admission requirements were upgraded, student recruitment extended beyond its region and Northeast began to attract national attention as a superb value in higher education.

This is a different circumstance than when Southwest Missouri State University promoted a name change a few years ago. When officials of the Springfield school lobbied in Jefferson City for a change to Missouri State University, their primary justification was the institution's growing enrollment. However, the mission of Southwest remained and remains the same, and legislators rightfully found no reason to change the name.

There is nothing wrong with being a regional university; Southeast Missouri State serves its region proudly and well. It's just that Northeast Missouri State does something different these days.

With Northeast, this isn't the case. Officials at the university have developed a specific mission, executed it beyond expectations and have filled a niche in the state's higher education strategy. Its request for a new name deserves a reasonable hearing. We look forward to learning what the commission comes up with.