King's College London Faces Rebranding Controversy

King's College London has decided to rebrand itself simply as King's London, to the horror of many students and alumni, Times Higher Education reported. Administrators say that the change is needed to end confusion about whether King's is a college or university.

A petition attracting opposition to the rebranding effort cites history and costs. "The rebranding of King's College London to simply King's London seems a bizarre move considering the institution's history as a college within the University of London. Not only does this undermine almost 200 years of tradition, as well as sabotaging a worldwide reputation built on the name King's College London, but it serves as a huge and unnecessary expense," the petition says. "Equally, the signs, posters, merchandise - everything printed with the name King's College London - displayed in each of the four campuses would need to be disposed of and replaced. This would cost an obscene amount of money - money that could be spent on improving student life at King's, or maybe even offsetting some of our tuition fees."