Our university’s recently acquired AND slogan is great, and it seems to be pretty well understood when you see it plastered around campus. Our Blugolds can be more than one thing. But, I think they could go even further.

People want options, opportunity. Not to just limit themselves to one thing. That’s why you can go to a McDonald’s and order a sandwich with literally every meat and also every condiment and extra material they have. The people making it have to put it into a different box, but it can be done.

So UW-Eau Claire should follow MacDon’s obviously successful marketing strategy and give the people what they want!

Which is obviously a wider range of conjunctive possibility.

AND is great, like I said. But what about OR? “I’m a Blugold…OR am I?” That would add so much mystery and intrigue and drama to what would have otherwise been just an obvious statement.

BUT is also great. I would like to say, “I’m a philosophy major…BUT also very employable.” Also, “I am a journalist…BUT can also write other things if you pay me.”

I mean, there’s NOR, YET, FOR and SO still there too. It’s a versatile grammatical piece and I really think we’re missing out on an opportunity to not only increase our brand, but also lock down all the conjunctions so no one can jump on the band wagon when they see how well it’s working.

You’d come across as maybe a bit speculative, questioning. Philosophical even. The ability to say “I’m a Blugold…FOR what?”

Which is actually exactly what I worry about potential employers asking me. Or, when I say I’m a Blugold, they say, “SO what?”

Because eventually it may not be so obvious why we would want to be Blugolds, or in the UW System in general. Someone could say, “This person seems qualified…BUT they did come from Wisconsin.”

In this kind of budgetary upheaval, times are changing. Programs may disappear, teachers and opportunities too.

So, if there is a potential for the obvious benefits of being a Blugold to disappear or become limited in the coming years, we need to have to conjunctive power to show off every part of ourselves.