Adam Hunsucker

ahunsucker@thenewsstar.com

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette won the latest battle in its decades-long name fight when the Sun Belt Conference agreed to call the Ragin’ Cajuns “Louisiana” in its latest media reference guide.

The Sun Belt’s decision went unchallenged by University of Louisiana Monroe President Nick Bruno. ULM has countered other attempts by UL Lafayette in the past by also submitting “Louisiana” as its preferred first reference name but declined to employ a similar tactic in November.

While Bruno declined to comment on the move — a controversial among ULM supporters — emails obtained by The News-Star provide context to why he let UL Lafayette’s latest rebranding strategy go unopposed.

What follows are several exchanges that include how ULM arrived at its decision, the concerns of a past president and Bruno directing his ire at a concerned fan.

Bruno first became aware of UL Lafayette’s plan to submit “Louisiana” as its first reference name and “LA” as its short abbreviation to the Sun Belt in an email forwarded to him by Scott McDonald, ULM’s facility corporation president and radio color analyst for football, on Nov. 7.

Bruno replied, “no but looks good to me” regarding UL Lafayette's preferred first reference name and abbreviation.

Bruno cedes 'Louisiana' name to Cajuns

When McDonald asked if he was OK with UL Lafayette's request to be called Louisiana, Bruno wrote: “We are going to submit similar request so conference can default to last year. Ultimately due to lack of enforcement of legislation they are associated with the name. We can be a nuisance, but ultimately I think we must forge our own identity.”

ULM would ultimately submit “ULM” as its first reference to the Sun Belt instead, as it had done in the past, of asking to be called “Louisiana.”

UL Lafayette has attempted to brand its athletic programs “Louisiana,” “LA” and “UL” over the past several years by semantically dancing around Act 45 of the Louisiana State Legislature. That law prohibits any UL System institution from using the “UL” acronym or the name “University of Louisiana” for “academic, public relations, athletic, as well as other purposes not specified.”

Bruno informed McDonald, then-ULM deputy athletic director Josh Brooks, chief communications officer Lisa Miller and director of communications and marketing Julia Letlow via email on Nov. 10 of UL Lafayette’s intentions.

ULM athletic director Brian Wickstrom was not included in the email exchange.

Bruno, however, directed all comment regarding his decision not to contest UL Lafayette’s naming preference to Wickstrom weeks later.

“Not sure what they expect to gain by using LA or Louisiana,” Bruno wrote. “I personally feel this is to our benefit, but want your thoughts and suggestions. We will continue to use ULM and UL Monroe.”

Brooks responded that he believed the move, specifically UL Lafayette dropping the “UL” abbreviation, would create a backlash among the Cajun fan base and cause identity issues for the university, and that ULM was better off maintaining the consistency of its brand while UL Lafayette would continue to battle an “identity crisis.”

Bruno followed with an email sent only to Brooks asking if he should oppose UL Lafayette’s preferred first reference and abbreviation. Brooks replied: “I stand by my points, however they should still have to answer for violating the directive from the UL System by referring to themselves as either 'UL', 'LA', ,Louisiana', or any variation that is not approved.”

Brooks left ULM for an executive associate athletic director job at Georgia less than two weeks later.

Bruno exchanged emails with Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson on Nov. 11 requesting information regarding what the conference’s football standings graphic would look like with “UL Monroe” and the name “Louisiana” In place of “UL Lafayette.”

Benson told The News-Star on Nov. 30 that the Sun Belt doesn’t have jurisdiction over how a member institution wishes to be referred to and that any problems need to be solved by the respective schools or university system.

Bruno forwarded his exchange with Benson to Brooks and asked that he also share the information with McDonald. Brooks responded that he and McDonald “hated to see” UL Lafayette receive recognition as “Louisiana” from the Sun Belt because it gives the rebranding “legitimacy,” and that ULM needed “to get our LSU friends attention on this matter.”

Bruno replied, “I think it doesn’t really provide an identity except for the state.”

Bruno sent Benson a follow-up email on Nov. 17, writing that the university wished to use “ULM” as its first reference and short abbreviation.

Benson emailed Bruno and UL Lafayette President Joe Savoie on Nov. 22 to reiterate that the revised reference guide scheduled to be released to the media listed “ULM” and “Louisiana” as each institution’s first reference name.

When asked in November what happened to make ULM change its mind regarding the use of “Louisiana” by UL Lafayette, Savoie told the Lafayette Daily Advertiser it was an “ongoing conversation.”

Bruno responded by thanking Benson for his email and forwarding the updated reference guide to Brooks, Letlow and Wickstrom.

The Sun Belt released the reference guide on Nov. 22.

An email exchange on Nov. 23 between Bruno and Letlow following an interview request from The Daily Advertiser revealed that, according to Bruno, “the opposition from ULM is the usage of UL and University of Louisiana, while the use of LA and Louisiana is less offensive but fails to comply with appropriate statue (sic)."

Bruno added that he and Savoie have a very good relationship and discuss the issue often.

According a statement released to the Daily Advertiser — and despite asking ULM officials if he should oppose UL Lafayette’s name request — Bruno said Sun Belt members are not asked to contest another institution’s naming preferences.

Former ULM President Dwight Vines emailed Bruno later that evening expressing his concern about permitting UL Lafayette to be referred to as "Louisiana." Vines was a vocal critic of UL Lafayette’s attempts to change its name to the “University of Louisiana” during his tenure at ULM.

“This controversy will not end until Jesus comes again,” Vines wrote.

In a reply on Nov. 24 Bruno wrote: “I have repeatedly reminded all parties of the state statute; however, there seems to be no enforcement mechanism.”

Bruno took exception to an email from ULM supporter Phillip Domingues on Dec. 1 criticizing the university’s decision following The News-Star publishing an article titled “Bruno cedes ‘Louisiana’ name to Cajuns” two days earlier.

He replied: “I have ceded nothing! ULM follows state statute regarding our name. if (sic) you read the article you would have seen I do not have that authority. Enforcement of the law does not vest with me. Thanks for your interest.”

Bruno had a similarly heated exchange on Twitter with longtime ULM supporter Todd Martin.

An email sent that Miller, the ULM communications director, sent Nov. 30 to Bruno and Letlow revealed that when asked for comment from Bruno regarding UL Lafayette’s new first reference name, Letlow was instructed to tell The News-Star that Bruno “was out of pocket and to contact Brian (Wickstrom)…the end.”

Also included in Miller’s email was a draft of another email to be sent to The News-Star related to the aforementioned story that needed Bruno’s approval. That email was never received by The News-Star.

ULM is the only Division 1 university in Louisiana that refers to UL Lafayette as “Louisiana” on first reference in its sports information releases.

UL Lafayette tried unsuccessfully to change its name to the “University of Louisiana” twice before – in 1984 and 1995. The latter attempt led to the adoption of Act 45 that year.

Then-Southwestern Louisiana University was able to change its name to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1998 after then-ULM President Lawson Swearingen agreed to change the name of Northeast Louisiana University to its current iteration.

State law required that two institutions agree to a name change and use the “University of Louisiana” moniker followed by its geographic location before such a move could be made.

Follow Adam on Twitter @adam_hunsucker

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