The Lead

At the National Press Club on July 12, the YMCA announced its new official name: "The Y."

Of course, corporate name changes are common enough. CEOs and boards may want to seek the forgetting of the past (ValueJet is now Airtran and Blackwater is now Xe Services), the correction of an original thoughtlessness (Google was once BackRub), or the setting-aside of certain unpleasant product-based realities (witness KGC slowly emerging out of KFC). But what happens when an institution with "Christian" in its name drops that adjective?

Let's get the obvious first question out of the way: yes, The Village People are incensed, noting that they "will continue to perform all four letters in their concerts around the world." And, no, we really can't imagine wedding reception dances without all four letters.

As to the rest of it,

“We are changing how we talk about ourselves so that people better understand the benefits of engaging with the Y,” said Kate Coleman, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of YMCA of the USA. “We are simplifying how we describe the programs we offer so that it is immediately apparent that everything we do is designed to nurture the potential of children and teens, improve health and well-being and support our neighbors and the larger community.”

So the YMCA - beg pardon, the Y - is launching a strategic rebranding of itself. And it may be that in the age of Twitterization, a 75% reduction in one's name plus a three-point simplification in mission does speak a little more plainly than the Y's old mission, which was

... to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind and body for all.

With a sigh we admit that it could be that in the public imagination, "Christian principles" is even too obscure a category. But to what extent is this "forward-looking strategic shift" a walking-away from the "C" part? Or is it merely a move to make this organization as accessible and newly relevant as possible?

Some conservative groups will no doubt point their pistols lightly towards this change. After all, notes Bryan Fischer of the far-right American Family Association,

The YMCA was founded because the founder, George Williams, realized boys need Christ to become grown men. By removing Christ or Christianity from their title, they're just taking another step away from their original mission.

Yet as it went through its litany of undeniably good deeds at the Press Club, it became clear that the Y is acting in a Christ-like manner even if it doesn't bear the label anymore.

What do you think? Don't orgs like the Y deserve to dust off their corporate images, names, and logos? And what's the greater risk - holding on to a title, or going quietly into that good night?

Comments (8)

Hmm 'Y' -- what does it mean? It is what everyone calls it in everyday speech (as in "I am going to the Y") so I suppose it works. Or perhaps it means this.

Posted by Ann Fontaine | July 18, 2010 8:13 AM

Been known colloquially as "The Y" for forty years to my knowledge. Where's the problem?

Posted by Roger Mortimer | July 18, 2010 8:55 AM

Maybe it's that too many Christians have made "Christian" just a bit embarrassing for these days and marketing execs.

Posted by Paul Woodrum | July 18, 2010 3:31 PM

Let's see - it's been open to men and women for some time. And given what it is - an athletic club with a public spirited heart - we'd be outraged if didn't make people of any faith or no faith comfortable and given full access. Good on them. It's been known as the Y for years except at wedding receptions. Good on them.

Posted by John B. Chilton | July 18, 2010 4:01 PM

My 'Y' avoids giving the appearance of any Christian teachings at all... yet has full on accepted Hindu tantric yoga [56 classes are taught each week] complete with astral projection instructions.... & corpse poses at the end of every class, which help those who want to 'get off the wheel' of reincarnation into their next life...

I prefer the the old school... YMCA, which was wholesome & family oriented and didn't ask us to bow down to the Sun gods in every stretching class nor chant names of Hindu deities.

I'm not surprised they have no qualms about throwing out YMC.... [little do they realize, that they are throwing out, what made it so successful in the first place...]

Posted by LGMarshall | July 18, 2010 6:40 PM

Hook-up spot for low-income gay men? How open-minded of you, LG! ;-X

As far as the rest: I can't tell if you're reading from a Wingnut press release, or you perused a Y catalog w/ your obligatory jaundiced POV, LG.

Our Christian faith-claims are no less (or more) objectively ridiculous than these Hindu claims (IF such particular claims are taught at the Y, about which I have my doubts). They're just not yours or mine (but the Yoga techniques may relieve stress). Why not live and let live?

JC Fisher

Posted by tgflux | July 19, 2010 2:13 AM

Here's the Y's press release on the name change,

http://www.ymca.net/news-releases/20100712-brand-new-day.html

Posted by John B. Chilton | July 19, 2010 6:46 AM

At the YMCA I go to, all New Testament quotes have been replace with Old Testament quotes. Interesting. Is it now wrong for the organization formerly known as the YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION to quote Christ? The next thing you know all of Dr. Martin Luther King's speeches refering to Christ's words will have to be expunged.

Posted by James Frick | December 26, 2010 11:32 AM

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