University of Arizona fans rest easy! U of A isn't going anywhere

A press release sent out by the University of Arizona Monday had a lot of people talking and wondering if the term “U of A” was being banished from the Wildcat wordbook.

The university’s communication office sent out a press release Monday saying: they’re changing the way U of A refers to itself to UArizona for SEO purposes. 

The reason is so you can find them easier on sites like Google and Bing. But that didn’t stop the backlash or confusion as to what the university’s intention really was. 

So 12 News called their Associate VP for Communication Pam Scott to get the facts.

RELATED: Say goodbye to 'UA,' the University of Arizona is changing the way it refers to itself

HOW THINGS STARTED?

The controversy started with this press release from the University of Arizona’s communication office saying this: "We are changing how we refer to the University of Arizona in headlines and on second reference. We are adopting the use of UArizona to distinguish the University of Arizona from several other national and international entities that use the abbreviation UA, which will assist us with search enginge optimization (SEO)".

But despite our 12 News article and Facebook post giving the facts, people pounced pretty quickly.

One person saying: “They may be changing it but people around here will always call it U of A”. Another sounding off with: “Let’s change all the signage on campus and raise tuition”  

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WHY SEO MATTERS?

A quick google search makes the point, type in UA and Under Armor clothing is number one, followed by University of Arizona, United Airlines then United Association.

The University of Arizona’s Associate VP for Communications Pam Scott wanted to quickly put the controversy to bed. She says all the backlash is overblown and couldn’t be further from the truth. She sent 12 News this statement Tuesday afternoon saying:

“The change from UA to UArizona is for headlines and second reference on press releases and news coming from the University of Arizona. We are making it so it is crystal clear who we are to the reader. This change does not impact our licensed merchandise, athletic teams or any traditional chants or cheers. Everything stays the same except for how we refer to ourselves in news releases”.

So Wildcat fans rest easy! You can keep your U of A sweatshirts, the logo isn’t changing and at the football and basketball games, you can still get up and cheer with your favorite U of  A chant.