Nearly two weeks after students protested, Purdue University will cancel a controversial diploma change for local campuses including Hammond and Westville, officials said.

Purdue’s Board of Trustees in Lafayette opted on Friday to ax the design change that would have added “Northwest” to the top of diplomas for Purdue University Northwest starting in May 2019.

Word of mouth began to spread in Hammond on Thursday after Chancellor Thomas Keon confirmed to a student via email that the plan had been dropped, said Student Government Association Vice President Dustin Thibideau.

Earlier that day, Purdue University Fort Wayne Chancellor Ronald Elsenbaumer announced to students there that President Mitch Daniels and Trustees had opted to drop the change.

It “definitely reflected they took the students’ concerns seriously,” Thibideau said via phone, who attended the Trustees meeting on Friday.

Junior Kate Franklin, who organized a protest on the Hammond campus on Oct. 1, welcomed the move.

“I'm elated that everyone's voices were heard and I am hoping that the Board of Trustees thinks twice before making major decisions and not consulting the students,” she said via email.

Two small changes were approved by Trustees, Keon said in an email to students Friday.

The campus location at bottom will be shortened to “Purdue Northwest” from “Purdue University Northwest”, he said. The chancellor’s signature will also be added to the new diploma.

At other campuses, it will change the city where the degree was awarded to the campus name. Purdue Northwest has done this since 2016, officials said.

“I genuinely appreciate the candid conversations held over the past two weeks about the PNW diploma among students, faculty, staff, alumni, administration and the community,” Keon said. “The many points of view shared and the level of engagement on this issue demonstrate the pride we all have in the education offered here at Purdue Northwest.”

Last month, students balked almost immediately when it was announced, saying the deal was for them to earn a “Purdue University” degree at a lower cost.

Hundreds showed for a protest on campus in Hammond on Oct. 1. Chancellor Thomas Keon later pledged to lobby the Trustees to delay it until 2023, when current students had graduated.

“I always thought it should have been phased in,” Keon said during a meeting on Oct. 4.

The design change was proposed across all Purdue campuses after it acquired Kaplan College, now Purdue Global, earlier this year.

Keon said last month Trustees felt it was “increasingly valuable” to separate each campus’ identity and Purdue Global, according to a released statement.

mcolias@post-trib.com

Twitter @meredithcolias