I noticed an article in Messiah College’s student newspaper addressing the school’s “branding campaign.” From what I gather of the article, the college hires a consulting group (in their case, Crane Metamarketing) to assist them in a process of identity reflection. The process entails an effort to determine what Messiah College offers that comparable Christian schools do not, including research into the feelings of students, alumni/ae, and parents of students.

The results point to exceptionally high satisfaction among the surveyed group, but some confusion about what precisely Messiah’s identity is.

According to the research, [Carla] Gross [Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Messiah] writes, “All audiences [surveyed]-students, parents, alumni, and former parents-reported strong overall satisfaction with their Messiah College experiences. Most also perceived the overall value of a Messiah education to be high, despite a common perception that the College is comparatively expensive.” Additionally, she writes “Nine out of ten current students and current parents said that they would choose Messiah again-the highest numbers Crane has ever seen for a college or university (secular or faith-based)!”Gross writes that the research found that, “Among the relatively few respondents who would not choose Messiah again, students were most likely to comment on various aspects of campus atmosphere, ranging from ‘too much conformity’ to geographic isolation. Current parents, former parents, and alumni were most likely to mention the expense.”

According to Gross, the research also determined the college’s “identity has been effectively cloaked by the absence of a set of clear and unambiguous messages. One outcome has been families finding their way to the College without fully understanding its promise or the choice they were making.”

Gross writes, Messiah College is now obliged to spend inordinate time and attention managing relationships. She writes, “Now is the ideal time to rearticulate and reframe Messiah’s identity, moving from cloaked to crystal clear.”

“In the long-term, students will benefit from the results of the branding project, because the stronger Messiah’s brand and reputation is, the stronger our institutional ability is to recruit quality students and faculty and to raise funds for financial aid and other student programs. A strong brand also strengthens the name recognition of a Messiah College degree in opening doors and opportunities for Messiah alumni,” Gross writes.

According to Gross, the college plans “to use the results of the branding research to develop a new marketing tag line for the College and new print and web marketing communication materials for prospective students.” She says the College’s mission and identity statement, motto, and the logo will remain the same.

I can attest to the “cloaked” nature of Messiah’s identity. I didn’t really know about the Anabaptist roots of the school until I was a Junior. I think many students go all four years without knowing a thing about Anabaptism, let alone the school’s founding denomination, the Brethren in Christ. I entered Messiah having no sense of how its basic identity differed from Gordon College–the other Christian school to which I applied and was accepted as a high school senior. In the end, though, I was heartily won over by Messiah’s traditions and joined the Brethren in Christ church.

From what I understand, Messiah College has made some significant strides in restructuring education in a way that highlights their identity to current students. I believe they are four years into their new core course for all students: Created and Called for Community. I understand this core course has controversially resulted in the loss of many of Messiah’s upper-level Bible courses, but it has also provided the opportunity for faculty to reach students on essential questions about faith and service addressed in the class. Since the course is now required for all students, there is no way for a student to go through their years at Messiah without knowing the school’s theological roots and foundational values. That’s a big step in the right direction!