In September, the Northwest College Board set off a flurry of opinions for and against when a member put forth a resolution to change the name of the school to Yellowstone College. 

Two months later that same board member made a motion at Monday's meeting to table the resolution until some of the questions raised during the process could be better answered. 

"We decided at this time, for the sake of the college, it would be best to move that our resolution be tabled until such time as the name change committee can review the matter, and it can be brought back before the board,” trustee John Housel said, adding later “There’s a sentimental attachment a lot of people have. The name in the minds of many, is full on epoxy cement that cannot be resolved ... we discussed that, we knew there were going to be people who could not detach from the name Northwest.”

While more than 70% of those who responded to a survey put together by the college foundation expressed opposition to a name change, most of the comments at the November meeting were supportive, including those from four current or former college staff and alumni.

In his final meeting on the board, trustee Larry Todd also unveiled his thoughts on the issue and stressed his desire to see a name change by bringing up examples from his life as an archaeologist, as a boy from a fifth generation Meeteetse ranching family, and as a board member.

“In order to survive, everything has to adapt to changing conditions,” he said. “Everything that remains constant is fairly frequently facing extinction.”

Two trustees who had been opposed to the resolution also spoke, with both appreciative of the motion to table. 

R.J. Kost, who seconded the motion to table, said future discussions should center on a need to maintain and increase academic excellence. Fellow trustee Denise Laursen suggested the committee bring back alternate new names as well as she said there are issues with the name of Yellowstone College. 

Before those discussions the public had a say, and all five who spoke had a close connection to the college. 

Dave Bonner, the publisher of the Powell Tribune but speaking as a Northwest College Foundation Board member, expressed opposition to a name change due to, he said, a lack of information presented to show how a name change would help students, the college and avoid a backlash from donors to the foundation attached to the name. 

He said they’ve already heard from donors who said “they’re going to wait a while and see what happens" with the name change before renewing their support. 

“Northwest has carved a regional footprint,” he said, adding “It’s something we've invested in for 78 years.”

The four people who spoke in favor were also all alumni and all had been, or still are, employed by the college. One, recruiter Jessica Kasinger, said she was calling from the road, on her way to Jackson to continue her recruiting work for the college. She mentioned multiple instances where she has been frustrated at a recruiting event by someone not knowing where the college is, including at an event in Idaho and one in Pinedale. 

“We do a great job of recruiting locally, but out of the state people don’t know where we are,” she said. “We are a great school ... they just need to know who we are first.”

A fellow alum who has also recruited students, many international like her, seconded the need to bring more exposure to the college and tie it with an internationally famous national park. 

NWC multimedia specialist Ronnie Wolf, as Housel had done, spoke to the connections between the college and Yellowstone. 

“It’s time we take our future and secure what's rightfully ours,” he said. “We are Yellowstone.”

Jeremiah Howe, who previously expressed support for a name change at an earlier meeting, said while he would still support a passage of the resolution now, he thought the tabling to gather more information a good move. 

Housel said the move to table will allow the committee, which includes himself, Mark Wurzel and chair Tara Kuipers in an ex-officio role, to investigate the questions raised by the two-month process with a view to coming back to the board with either the resolution or for a work session to further hash out details. 

He said that while the committee had spoken to experts about the cost of rebranding to come up with a $50,000-$100,000 estimate, they did not “go into the weeds.”

“We anticipate that is one area we are going to address in further detail,” he said. "We want to come up with a not to exceed number we can bring to the board about cost.”