Earlier this month, a very sad thing happened: Utah Valley State College became Utah Valley University.
Longtime readers will recall that when I lived in Utah Valley (i.e., the Provo/Orem area) and worked for a newspaper there, UVSC was one of my favorite things to make fun of. In fact, it was a favorite thing for many people in that region to make fun of. I wrote several “Snide Remarks” columns for the sole purpose of mocking UVSC, and mocked it in passing in several others. (Search for “UVSC” on this site and you’ll get plenty of hits.)
Becoming a university instead of a state college doesn’t automatically mean it’s now a really awesome center of learning, of course. It may be on the right track, but it still has open enrollment, which means you can go there no matter how stupid you are. I will continue to childishly poke fun at the place regardless of what it’s called.
So why is the switch from UVSC to UVU sad for me? Because it invalidates my song “UVSC,” which was a parody of “Under the Sea” and cannot survive a change in lyrics. I’d have to write a whole new song. And if you’ve heard “UVSC” — which you can do for free here, or download it for 99 cents here — you know that it’s a thing of beauty that can never be duplicated. Not that I do a lot of shows in Provo (the only place the song is funny) anyway, but still. It’s the end of an era.
Farewell, UVSC! I shall always remember you and laugh. (At you, not with you.)
Another sad thing is that anyone who has ever graduated from UVSC can now get a new diploma that says they graduated from UVU…
Oh my. I had never heard the UVSC song before. A thing of beauty indeed. The ending of its era is a truly lamentable development.
My favorite comment from a friend of mine was “UVU? sounds like a contraceptive.”
Do you still get the option of a Chili’s gift certificate instead of a diploma from UVU? If not then truly this is a step backwards.
Is that true Turraahh?
gossie21, I would think they’d upgrade to a Cheesecake Factory gift certificate.
I love that the Google ads in the banner right now are for UVSC. “You’ve read the mockery, now join the mocked!”
Lowdogg, yes, it is true, and not just of UVSC graduates but of graduates of whatever the school was called even before it was UVSC. You can read all about it in #2 of the Top 10 FAQ’s about UVU here: http://www.uvsc.edu/university/
Why in the world is the first “U” in the UVU logo different than the other “U” in the same logo? That is retarded.
I was perplexed by that first “U,” too. Then yesterday it hit me: The empty space in the first “U” makes the shape of Utah. It’s like one of those vase-or-two-faces pictures. Ta-da!
Must…think…but…too…stupid.
Sideways G-VU. That’s what it looks like.
on the bright side if you sound it out it sounds way cooler: “Oovoo” vs “Oovsc”
Alright, alright….as a current enrollee of this higher education edifice, I must defend it’s honor!!!!! Okay…..that was really hard to type without laughing!! No matter what it changes its name to, it’s always going to be “the high school by the highway” to me!! Don’t even get me started on the crap of a math program they have going on there…..it’s an even bigger scam than the bookstore!! I will get my Chili’s gift certificate/diploma this year even if it kills me ( & the math program may just do that!)!!!
See, you can tell I go there by my wonderful punctuation!!!
But see, the space in the first U isn’t exactly the shape of Utah The northwestern panhandle (or whatever you call it) should be wider east-to-west and shorter north-to-south. To accomplish this graphically, the serif on the first U should be skinnier and shorter, except then it wouldn’t match the rest of the lettering … oh, never mind.
Not oovsc. It was You-va-suck. You-vu doesn’t work. But, I suppose “That other school in Provo. What’s that? Orem? Whatever, it still sucks” works just as well.
As for the logo, why not just have two not-quite Utahs? It would have looked better than the one.
I’ve played the UVSC song for many of my friends at school and everyone that I’ve played it for enjoyed it a lot. I even use it as my ringtone for whenever people from school call me. I do think that you should write a whole new song and record it for our enjoyment.
I still think that it’s a great place to learn and I value the education that I’ve received there. Sure we may have some students who aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed but you attended BYU so you must remember that they had a few students like that as well.
I presume the reason just the first U is shaped like Utah is because the first U is the one that stands for ‘Utah’. The second U stands for ‘University’. I’m not sure there’s a way to shape a ‘u’ such that it approximates the shape of a university.l
It’s soooo funny, you guys, because no one dumb ever graduated from BYU or any other school. Ever. And there aren’t any idiots who go to U of U now at all and it never feels like high school at any other college because all the other 18 year-olds at other schools are so much more mature when they enroll. And it’s so hilarious that, according to the 2005 Utah Foundation Report, UVSC (UVU) grads on average earn more money annually than any other Utah college or university. It’s probably Monopoly money! Haha! Oh man. I can’t stop laughing.
(Ahhh, this blog entry reminds me of the hours of ribbing that occurred on this subject when we were roommates, Eric. And how I’d cry myself to sleep my final semester at UVSC knowing that you didn’t approve. Make fun of Weber State for a change! It’s open enrollment too!)
I think you can still call it UVSC. I refuse to call that college in Idaho by it’s proper name – to me it will always be Ricks.
I love Eric’s unapologetic, unnecessarily cruel UVSC jokes. So funny. I hope they still hire a few hobos now and then, to some of their adjunct positions, now that they’re a University.
And of course, UVSC grads are making more 1 year after graduation than graduates from UofU or BYU, they were in technical training programs, learning from *real hobos* how to get by with little to no education. The big schools just can’t compete with that.
I think we’ve had this argument on here before but the study that I saw reported on students 1 year after graduation, 5 years after graduation and 10 years after graduation. The UVSC students 10 years after graduation were still making more than the average BYU graduate even though the gap got closer.
Actually I think the logo was made because it’s supposed to look like a “Wolverine” claw or something to do with the mascot. At least that’s what I got from the mistake riddled publication they call the school newspaper. 😉
Okay, okay, so it’s no “Daily Universe”, but it’s not a bad little paper….just usually full of grammatical errors.
I don’t know which paper you read but everyone before you was correct. I went to the logo unveiling and read the articles in the paper. The first U has the shape of Utah in it because it stands for Utah. One of the schools athletic logos looks like a claw but it isn’t the one at the top of this page.
Ahhh, there is nothing more attractive than BYU students feeling high and mighty!