Each year, hundreds of students walk underneath the brown, brick overhang of the MSU-DCL College of Law building to study for careers in the legal profession.
Every year, those same students apply for jobs and are asked where they attended law school.
And every year, when the law students answer that question, some employers invariably say, "Where?"
A proposal introduced by MSU Provost Lou Anna Simon and passed by Academic Governance on Tuesday could solve that, changing the name of the law school to the Michigan State University College of Law.
If passed by both institutions' boards of trustees, the name change will make the college's location clearer to outsiders and increase prestige for both the 113-year-old law school and the university that hosts it.
Honestly, not much is changing about either institution: MSU-DCL will continue to handle its own finances and MSU won't toss anything except its moniker into the big brown building on Shaw Lane.
But in the world of higher education, as in Hollywood, Ivy League admissions offices and A-list parties, a name can make a big difference.
The first difference is in recognition. From the law school's perspective, being linked to the university by name gives MSU-DCL international acknowledgment.
Degrees from the institution will bear the full name of the world-renowned university that hosts it.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a person in the United States - and even some places internationally - who hasn't heard of MSU.
From MSU's perspective, having a law school with the university's name on it adds some oomph to the university's reputation.
Students might come here because it's abundantly clear they can pursue a law degree at the same place they received their undergraduate degree.
Also, studies issued by professors within MSU-DCL will be branded with the university's full name.
And officials from both institutions are in favor of the proposal. Simon backs it, obviously, and on Tuesday, MSU-DCL Dean Terence Blackburn was quoted as saying, "It will give us a great ability to recruit students and faculty on a national level."
MSU-DCL started in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law, offering citizens of Detroit a chance to become lawyers without leaving the city.
It affiliated with MSU in 1995 and began occupying its $28 million facility on Shaw Lane in 1997, calling itself the Detroit College of Law at MSU.
Since then, the college has undergone two name changes. In 2000, it became the MSU-Detroit College of Law, and in summer 2002, the college changed to the MSU-DCL College of Law.
Calling the institution the Michigan State University College of Law - on diplomas, on works of research, on name tags at conventions, on anything - is a win-win situation for both the university and the law college.
