Signs of GW’s renewal are all over campus: From the steps of the Marvin Center, to the old entrance of Gelman Library, to the 30-second television commercials.

As a student, you might think that none of this matters. And we know it’s not cheap to rebrand. But if done right, this effort could help the school pull in the cash needed to pay for academic programs.

Following suit with these new logos and taglines, the University is considering launching a fundraising campaign that will use last year’s D.C.-centric slogans to increase scholarships, build a dozen research institutes and fund 100 new faculty positions.

But there’s one major concern: Some professors told The Hatchet that the branding will produce oversimplified messages that devalue the competitive advantages and specific subject areas that GW offers.

It’s understandable that some professors might feel shafted or ignored: Phrases like “At GW, students have a front row seat to the world’s stage” don’t exactly represent the math department. But if the goal is to bring in the most money possible, then a campaign that uses broad and somewhat vague language is the best move.

No matter how hard administrators try, it’s impossible to sum up an entire university in a couple of words or a few images. But a unified branding campaign will help sell the University as a cohesive unit – something that is difficult to achieve at a university like this one, which can lack a sense of school spirit or a unified campus community.

The messaging follows a basic marketing strategy: Attract the most people by appealing to the lowest common denominator. GW is right to try to fit everyone under the same umbrella. It’ll encourage a broader spectrum of donations from individuals passionate about a wide range of departments.

Specific and focused branding has its benefits. Surely, it will be difficult to genuinely highlight GW’s lesser known programs with broad slogans that point out the hallmark aspects of a GW education that most people are already aware of.

At the end of the day, all departments will be able to reap the benefits of the money generated from the school-wide fundraising effort – but this requires catering to the largest group of people possible.

A university can’t attract the highest caliber students or professors if it doesn’t have programs that people know about. For GW, the best-known subject areas are political science and international affairs.

By tying together several of the flashiest and most notable components of GW into a cohesive unit, the University can indirectly point to these strengths while still giving credence to the diversity of the school’s offerings.

The University is proud of its status as the largest school in the District – and the closest to the White House. We like that we’re rated the most politically active school in the country every couple of years, and this campus sentiment could appeal to donors as well.

The writer is a sophomore in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.