TYLER, Texas — The Tyler Junior College Board of Trustees held a special meeting Thursday evening, inviting members of the school and local community give their opinion on a possible name change for the college.
The issue on the table: Dropping the "Junior" in Tyler Junior College in an effort to make the name sound more "prestigious."
People used the open forum to voice their concerns for nearly two hours.
The college now offers certain four-year degree programs, so this change would not be completely unwarranted.
Some at the special meeting argued the name change would help alumni look better on paper, while others said the name is a piece of the community and a tradition that shouldn't be changed.
"If you care at all about this institution and your students, I urge you to please, be for the name change," Carson Moreland, a TJC student considering the name change, said.
Former TJC Head Football Coach Danny Palmer argued the board was trying to "change the name while we are at our best. We are known across the nation and across the world as Tyler Junior College."
In a letter to TJC, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools said while a name change is not required for them to award four-year degrees, the school must "demonstrate that students are not disadvantaged in reaching their career and educational goals," if the name remains the same.
TJC has not announced when they will decide if they will alter the name or what, exactly, the new name would be.
So far, the only possibility made public for the name change is Texas Eastern College.