St. Cloud State University faculty and staff were part of an unveiling of a new branding and positioning campaign at the Fall Convocation address Tuesday morning. Every fall, the university’s union and administrative leadership address the group in preparation for the start of the academic year. The new branding tag line for the university is “Education for Life."

University President Earl H. Potter used a white water rafting metaphor to describe the process of the re-organization of the school so far and where it’s headed.  He expressed how SCSU has cleared the rapids of hard work and can now begin the exciting work of bringing the idenentity of the university to life.  The preisdent called it a special time for the university, a time to reflect and move ahead on major new projects such as the ISELF (Integrated Science Engineering Laboraty Facility) and National Hockey and Events Center projects.

The president shined the spotlight on two alumni who have achieved great things professionally, including John Baker, a Marine Corps Veteran who is now a lawyer and directs the state’s first ever Veteran’s Treatment Court. Another student, Amy Lindquist from Spicer, spoke to the full house in the Ritsche Auditorium live from Bulgaria, where she is teaching English as a Second Language.

President Potter says the university’s reputation, or brand, is not as good as we truly are, and he’s ready to transform the school’s story. Earthbound Media, a California based firm under contract, has been working with university staff to re-tool the images and tone of SCSU and a website refresh has just been revealed.

Potter says increased use social media will be used to help address the brand gap between perception and reality at SCSU.

Fall semester classes start on Monday, August 22. This weekend is the annual Move-In Weekend for students in the residence halls. Special events are planned on Saturday and Sunday to welcome new and returning students.