Editing University of Wisconsin System (section)

== Branding ==
Since the 1971 union of the universities and colleges under the University of Wisconsin System name, there has been a controversy over the arrangement. The name "University of Wisconsin" is often used to refer to the Madison campus, which has made it difficult for other institutions to make names for themselves. Conversely, many who are connected to UW–Madison have claimed that having so many institutions share the "University of Wisconsin" title has caused a form of [[brand dilution]].<ref>Klotsche, J. Martin. ''The University of Wisconsin–-Milwaukee: An Urban University'', pp. 1–40.</ref>

In 2006 and 2009, the students at UW–Milwaukee (UWM) voted on whether the school should change its name to something that did not carry the UW name (such as Wisconsin State University or University of Milwaukee). In both cases, a [[plurality (voting)|plurality]] of students voted to retain the name "University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee," but over 50% were in favor of a different name.<ref>Jones, Meg. [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=419946 Referendum "UWM students rebuff change: New names such as Wisconsin State University fail in referendum"] {{webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070929124320/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=419946 |date=2007-09-29 }}, ''[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]]'', April 30, 2006.</ref> Since 2004, the UWM athletic department has simply referred to the school's athletic teams as the [[Milwaukee Panthers]]. UW–Green Bay has since done the same and are officially the [[Green Bay Phoenix]]. Most other UW system programs are commonly referred to by just the city name as they all play in the same conference, the [[Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]] (WIAC), making the "UW" redundant. The exceptions are UW–Parkside, who plays in the Division II [[Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]] and is most often referred to as simply "Parkside", and UW-Superior, who plays most athletics in the [[Upper Midwest Athletic Conference]], who go by UWS or Wisconsin–Superior.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uwsyellowjackets.com/|title=University of Wisconsin-Superior Athletics - Official Athletics Website|website=University of Wisconsin-Superior Athletics}}</ref>

In October 2023, system president Jay Rothman announced that the system would be rebranded as "Universities of Wisconsin", adopting a new logo and color scheme. The legal name of the system would remain unchanged.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wethal |first=Kimberly |date=2023-10-11 |title='UW System' no more; Wisconsin is rebranding its collection of 13 universities |url=https://madison.com/news/local/education/university/uw-system-universities-new-name/article_0c003876-679d-11ee-a1ef-1b1238783aa0.html |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=Wisconsin State Journal |language=en}}</ref>