‘Break boundaries’: College of Business rebrands with new name

The business school was recently renamed to Lehigh College of Business. This decision to rebrand the school was voted on by the entire business school staff and symbolizes a greater vision for the future of the college under its new name.

College of Business Dean Georgette Phillips, who initially proposed the name change, said the new name was chosen for several reasons, but primarily for simplicity. 

“We had to take a very long, hard look at who are we, and more importantly, who do we want to be and how are we going to get there,” Phillips said. “At the core of everything we are, we’re a business school. That’s what we do. It is somewhat confusing to say, ‘Business and Economics,’ because why are you saying, ‘and Economics?’ It didn’t add anything to what we’re doing.”

Phillips said the previous name took away from the other majors by shining an unnecessary light on the economics department. 

To Phillips, the simplicity of the name can help gain recognition of the school across the nation. She said people will be able to easily associate the name with the business school.

Zoe Topaz, ’21, a joint international relations and economics major in the College of Arts and Sciences, agreed agreed only referring to economics in the name was confusing.

“As partly economics, I always thought that because economics was in the name, it must be super important,” Topaz said. “But, I think that in a way, it’s just as important as any other major in the business school, and I think it’s a cool way to make it a little more inclusive in terms of including everyone in business.”

Phillips said the College of Business hired a branding company, which first advised the school to remove ‘and Economics’ from its name.  

She said the company recommended to include the tagline, “Break Boundaries,” to symbolize the boundaries broken between majors, programs, schools and career options through enrollment in the business school.

“We have all these programs that jump across disciplines,” Phillips said. “We have Computer Science and Business, we have Integrated Business and Engineering, we have — on the graduate side — financial engineering.”

In unifying the business majors under a more inclusive name, Phillips said she hopes to break the boundaries between business and technology.

Part of the rebranding of the business school includes a new department that focuses on technology. 

“In the new undergraduate curriculum, everybody takes a coding class,” Phillips said.

Catherine Ridings, director of the Business Information Systems program in the College of Business, was one of the faculty who voted for the name change.

“I think it was a way to signify that we are focused on business,” Ridings said. “I think that’s all part of making sure that our brand aligns with our strategic vision to bring business and technology together.”