<p>Yeah I see your point necro. Benjamin University though?</p>
<p>Franklin University. Nice “old tradition” ring to it and a swell abbreviation (FU)</p>
<p>hahaha FU…</p>
<p>Princeton was The College of New Jersey until the late 19th century. Unlike Penn, they were smart enough to change their name.</p>
<p>What Penn should have done was take Joseph Wharton’s donation as impetus to simply rename the whole school to Wharton University. If only I had a time machine…</p>
<p>ilovebagels, the institution still has to respect the wishes of the donor. Joseph Wharton gave Penn $100,000 specifically to found a “School of Finance and Economy,” so it’d be hard to read into that desire a wish to rename UPenn “Wharton University.” If Wharton approached Penn and offered more money specifically to rename the entire school, that’s another story entirely. If Wharton’s wish was to found a business school, it’s hard for Penn to all of a sudden jump to renaming their entire institution after him.</p>
<p>We’re just lucky that it hasn’t become Claudia Cohen University. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>^Haha good point.</p>
<p>It seems that most of the other Ivies were named/renamed due to a donation by some rich individual. Gifts by John Harvard, Nicholas Brown Jr, Elihu Yale, and Ezra Cornell lead to the founding of Harvard, Brown, Yale, and Cornell respectively. Many other institutions like Stanford were named for similar reasons. Wharton was named for this reason as well.</p>
<p>So, that’s the historical reason why things are as they are.</p>
<p>Anyway, I can’t think of another name that would suit our institution better than the University of Pennsylvania. I don’t think that Philadelphia University (based on the same way that Princeton University was named), Franklin University (based on the founder), or Pennsylvania University sound as good.</p>
<p>Seriously, Wharton sounds like a proper, WASPy name for an Ivy League University. Of course had we named it Wharton from the get-go, Wharton would be synonymous with all things Penn (Wharton Med, Wharton Law, Wharton Business School, Wharton College) instead of the present day when it’s associated with business (and perhaps d-baggery)</p>
<p>Am I the only one who actually likes the name University of Pennsylvania? If I’m not mistaken, soon after the revolutionary war, the College of Philadelphia soon became the University of Pennsylvania, and I like how this name coincides with the newly-emerged commonwealth (state) of Pennsylvania. I think it’s good for that history to be linked to the school. There are plenty of schools just named after rich white guys, I think it’s good for one or two schools (like University of Chicago and University of Pennsylvania) to draw their names either from their respective locations or historical events (i.e. the emergence of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania).</p>
<p>Wharton clearly donated to create a business school, not to rename the University overall. Penn did a good job of respecting that wish, and I think the name University of Pennsylvania is just fine. Who cares if it has less recognition than Duke or Brown or whatever? The name suits the history of the school.</p>
<p>I agree. I wasn’t sure about it when I first got admitted, but I’ve fallen in love with campus and name after one semester.</p>
<p>It’s funny, because lots of the namesakes of great universities had practically nothing to do with them. Duke, Stanford, Cornell – at least the rich people had something in mind when they donated the money. I don’t think Elihu Yale ever saw Yale; he bought the name for less than L200, plus some books. With Brown, I think they actually auctioned off the name. I have no idea who John Harvard was. Ephraim Williams was really undistinguished, and Jeffrey Amherst a proven incompetent.</p>
<p>What about Penn University? William Penn founded Pennsylvania, hes a famous dude, and he was a Quaker. +Free advertising on all oatmeal cans.</p>
<p>You know, it’s funny, and awful, but I actually made the exact opposite mistake with one of my classmates. 
He got accepted to Penn State and was showing me his acceptance letter, and I was like… Hmm… Penn State… Isn’t that an Ivy? I know it’s either UPenn or Penn State… You know, I think that’s an Ivy, [name]! You got into an Ivy, dude! Woo! You should go!
He wasn’t sure either and so we both got excited off each other. Later I looked it up and realized I was wrong. Then I felt really bad. I’m not sure if he’s checked or not.
Of course, in retrospect, it was kind of dumb to think it could have been the Ivy, because none would have released decisions by then (this was quite a while ago). However, he is a minority, so I guess I thought he could have gotten a special app or something (though, still, not possible).</p>
<p>That’s my little story. Carry on.
(I almost applied to UPenn later, but ended up dropping it. Good luck to any 2014ers out there.)</p>
<p>"^ But one thing I bet you CAN’T imagine is a Penn football game at Franklin Field AGAINST Penn State. "</p>
<p>Not recently, but Penn State was playing Penn at Franklin Field in the 1950’s. I know they played in 1952 for sure. It’s hard to imagine today, but the Ivy League was THE football powerhouse at one time.</p>
<p>See “Football–The Ivy League Origins of an American Obsession” by Mark F. Bernstein. Very fascinating and entertaining book which includes a lot of stories about early Penn football.</p>
<p>“I kind of like the confusion. To academics and future employers, Penn is an Ivy League school. To the general population, Penn is unknown. It makes you come across as less pretentious , while also enabling you to reap the benefits of the Ivy league name when it’s important.”</p>
<p>Exactly my logic, too.</p>
<p>
In 2001, The Pennsylvania Gazette (Penn’s alumni magazine for those who may not know) published an excerpt from that book, detailing how Penn’s then-president, perennial US Presidential candidate Harold Stassen, almost put the kibosh on the formation of the Ivy League because he wanted Penn to reclaim its glory as a national football powerhouse:</p>
<p>[Nov/Dec</a> Gazette: Harold Stassen and the Ivy League](<a href=“http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/1101/bernstein.html]Nov/Dec”>Penn: Page not found)</p>
<p>I wear a Penn sweatshirt to school sometimes and people say “Oh you want to go to Penn State” Sometimes I don’t catch myself in the rudeness and say, no, Penn, the Ivy. I usually respond, no, “University of Pennsylvania”…and then mutter “the ivy league one” to myself ;)</p>
<p>why is it rude to identify Penn as the Ivy league school? You’re not suggesting superiority or anything else; you’re just helping people identify.</p>
<p>@necrophiliac: I think it’s very easy for the other person to mistake the response “No, the Ivy League one” as being pretentious and/or condescending - even if it is said with purely helpful intentions.</p>
<p>I usually prefer to say, “Nah, the University of Pennsylvania…the one in Philadelphia”.</p>
<p>Anyway I really do hope that employers know Penn is an Ivy League school… I guess if they say, “Oh so I see you went to Penn State”, you know to run away from the interview.</p>
<p>Don’t be lazy and just say “University of Pennsylvania”, that usually solves the problem. If someone still mistakes it for PSU then that’s their issue.</p>
<p>Also, get a hoodie that actually prints out the full name “University of Pennsylvania” rather than the ones that just read “Penn”. I was at the Penn bookstore and saw a lot of yellow and orange Jansport hoodies on sale that just had “PENN” embroidered on it but I opted for getting a slightly more expensive one that had the full name printed out so this Penn State vs. Penn issue won’t come up as much. :P</p>