CHEYENNE — The Laramie County Community College men’s basketball team comes from all over the world, including France, London, Wyoming, Nebraska, Idaho, and Florida.
None of them have heard of the college’s long-standing unofficial nickname, “Last Chance Cowboy College.”
They came here on scholarships to play basketball, and because the college has strong academic programs, they do not consider it a “last chance” place. For them, it is a place of opportunity.
However, they explained to Cowboy State Daily that the college’s name can be confusing. This is because the college is located in Cheyenne, Laramie County, rather than in Laramie itself.
Despite this, they were unsure about changing the name of the community college.
In fact, they were surprised to learn that the college is considering changing its name.
“They’re changing the name?” T.J. Coulter inquired, perplexed.
“What are they changing it to?” Josiah Ochoa wondered.
Ochoa and Coulter, both from Nevada, as well as Matt Tilly Charon of France and Isaac Fiagbe of London, said they’d be in favor of using the name “L-Trip” because that’s what everyone already calls it.
Their counterparts, Egyptian Karim Elgizawy, Iowan Brevin Phillips, and Floridan Lewis Dyer, believed the name should remain the same — or at most change to Cheyenne Community College, preserving the “Triple C” nickname.
Elgizawy admitted that the name could be confusing. It’s not a big deal, Dyer and Phillips said.
Renting The Wrong Apartment
None of the men on the basketball team were so confused by the college’s location that they rented an apartment in Laramie. But that’s something that has happened to other students, said LCCC President Joe Schaffer.
“We have had students rent apartments in Laramie before they get here thinking that’s where they are,” Schaffer recalled. People say, ‘Well, people can figure that out.'” But it is just confusing.”
After the college began conducting marketing surveys to better understand why people do and do not choose LCCC for their education, it became clear that this type of confusion was not limited to a few students.
Many people expressed confusion about the college’s location in those surveys, but the problems with its name extend beyond that, Schaffer said.
The name no longer accurately reflects the opportunities available at LCCC. It offers bachelor’s degree programs and a residence hall, which most people do not associate with community college.
According to the surveys, the term “community” causes many people to dismiss what could otherwise be a good, affordable option for their educational needs, Schaffer said.
That is significant for the college’s future because most states in America, including Wyoming, are expected to have dramatically fewer high school graduates.
“By 2040, there will be nine institutions in the state competing for about 1,800 college-going students,” Schaffer told the audience.
That means LCCC needs to find a new student pipeline if it wants to keep its program viable.
These students are likely to come from neighboring states with growing populations, such as Colorado and Utah.
At the same time, Schaffer believes that improving the pipeline of students from neighboring states coming into Wyoming could help alleviate some of the state’s brain-drain issues. 60% of Wyoming’s college graduates leave by the age of 30.
“One of the things we believe at the college is that the community college is — really all higher education in Wyoming — is a great value,” he told me. “And could be part of that conduit to bring young people to the state, educate the, get them to stay, get them to work and do all those things, which means we have to look at other markets for that pipeline.”
Not The College I Remember
Lots of people weighed in against a name change on LCCC’s Facebook page, and several mentioned their unofficial names, Last Chance Community College or Last Chance Cowboy College, with some affection.
“I loved my time at LCCC, even though it was known as Last Chance Cowboy College, compared to being an outreach student at UW, which I hated,” Michelle McLean wrote about the college’s name change. “I would rather LCCC not be rebranded. It’s not difficult to figure out where the college is located.”
McClean also stated that she would like to see more bachelor’s degree opportunities at the college, which did not exist when she attended but now does.
“This was like 15 years ago,” she said. “I haven’t heard the term Last Chance Cowboy College in years. I’ve heard it’s improved significantly in the years since I last went, but I had a great time there.”
Schaffer has heard several versions of the college’s unofficial name.
“I’ve heard Last Chance Cowboy College, Last Chance Community College, I’ve heard it all,” he went on. “That’s mostly gone by the wayside with our younger populations.”
However, some of the students’ parents still remember their names, which can be problematic at times.
“We had a young lady from Gillette, and I met her dad at move-in day, and her dad said, ‘I could not figure out why my daughter wanted to come here,'” said Schaffer.
But now that the father was on campus, he noticed how much had changed since he last visited Last Chance Community College.
LCCC now has a manufacturing center dedicated to developing young entrepreneurs, in addition to its two bachelor’s degrees and a new residence hall.
It has expanded its nursing programs and added programs such as theater, arts, and community orchestra, which are more common at regional institutions.
“It’s not the college I remember,” Schaffer claimed the man told him.
“But that’s the perception,” Schaffer said. “And it’s tied to some of that connotation of the name, so we’ve got those challenges.”
Careful With That
Community Colleges have been dropping the word “community” from their names for a long time now, retired LCCC president Charles Bohlen told Cowboy State Daily.
Some, such as Gillette College, have dropped the word from their names entirely because it has become so out of date.
“It’s a trend,” Bohlen explained. “I served as interim president one year at Trinidad State Junior College (in Colorado), but once they started offering some bachelor’s degrees, they got rid of the word, ‘junior,’ which is a very old name for community colleges.”
Bohlen stated that he considered changing the name of LCCC while serving as president from 1992 to 2006. He ultimately decided that it was not the right time.
“At the time when I was there, we belonged to the people of Laramie County,” according to him. “So I thought it was important to include the name Laramie County in the name. And we were a real community college at the time.
“We offered the first two years of a bachelor’s degree, as well as one- or two-year programs and technical education. So the name was clearly stated by the community.”
Since then, LCCC has expanded its programs in ways that go far beyond what most people expect from a community college, according to Bohlen. He can see the case for a name change now, but advises caution.
In recent memory, brand loyalties and divisive politics have caused name and logo changes to go awry, such as Cracker Barrel’s attempt to create a “streamlined” logo, which was criticized by some as being “woke.”
“You do have to be careful with it, because you develop quite an identity around the name,” he told me. “When I was there, we were proudly known as Laramie County Community College, but we were a local college with a regional approach.
“So we marketed ourselves to a wider audience than just Laramie County residents. They must also consider how broad the mission is and where they see themselves serving.
Six-Figure Process
What the new name will be hasn’t been decided yet. Choosing it will be part of an overall rebranding process that will unfold in coming days and weeks, likely over a minimum 18-month timeline, Schaffer said.
The final cost will be determined by the process’s overall outcome.
“If you’re doing a very simple name change, like dropping the ‘community,’ you can edit, amend, and change things relatively simply,” according to him. “Others have gone with a completely different name, as well as a mascot change, color change, brand change and things like that.”
Schaffer estimated that the overall cost of the name change would be in the six-figure range, depending on the new name and other decisions.
“It’s going to be very unique to our journey,” Schaffer explained. “But I think what’s important to understand is that the board approved the intent to proceed but hasn’t said flip the switch. I believe this is significant because we do not know the true logistics. We do not know the full extent.
“One of the things that’s been proposed is maybe part of it is just shifting to the acronym, like we’ve seen with FNBO, First National Bank of Omaha, or Western Governor’s University, which is now WGU or IBM, you know, pick your flavor.”
Schaffer has had people ask him if there will be a contest to come up with a new name, which he cannot yet answer.
“I imagine we’ll have a steering group or committee that will kind of shepherd and oversee that part of the process,” he told me. “We hope to have both internal and external people, as well as students, involved in this. And we will certainly involve the general public in the discussion and solicitation of ideas.
