- Cape Rolling Out Bloomfield Road Art Trail (8/21/19)1
- Donors Pledge Almost Two Grand To Replace SEMO's Possibly Sentient ‘Gum Tree' (8/16/18)
- SEMO and The Will To (Become A Consultant) – Part 2 (6/14/18)
- SEMO and The Will To Do (You Really Want To See That Legal Notice?) – Part 1 (6/4/18)
- Judge, Jury... Trashman (6/1/18)
- Diary of Cape Girardeau Road Deconstruction (5/11/18)
- Trying To Save A Tree From City “Improvements” (4/30/18)2
University Should Embrace Long-Time Nickname
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.
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