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The University of Wyoming's new slogan -- "The world needs more cowboys" -- is drawing criticism from professors who say that it is racist, sexist and counterproductive to recruiting out-of-state students, The Laramie Boomerang reported.
Christine Porter, an associate professor at the university, said that "boy" in the word "cowboy" clearly excludes anyone who doesn't identify as male. She also noted that the university has already made this distinction with its sports teams: the women's teams are referred to as Cowgirls while the men's are Cowboys.
In a survey, Porter asked faculty members to picture a cowboy and describe what the word means to them. Seventy-five percent of those who responded thought first of the Marlboro Man. Some respondents offered new slogan suggestions. Porter's favorite is "the world needs more trailblazers."
Chad Baldwin, director of communications at the university, said that the goal of the campaign was to redefine the word "cowboy" to represent anyone at the university. The slogan is part of a $1.4 million investment to advertise to prospective students in and outside Wyoming. The university paid a Colorado marketing firm $500,000 to develop the campaign.
