Eckerd and five other colleges rebrand their alliance to better define a collective purpose

Branding is important, and we noted the other day that our own Eckerd College is joining with five other area colleges to better brand themselves. Actually, Eckerd for some time has been part of an alliance with The Ringling, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, Ringling College of Art and Design, New College of Florida, and University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee, designed to bolster their collective image as place for learning opportunities and creativity. Indeed, originally the group called itself the the Consortium of Colleges on the Creative Coast, which got shortened to C4, which sounds like some sort of explosive to us. In any case, it didn't seem to be working so now the group has rebranded to Cross College Alliance, and its stated purpose is to "build a network among the region’s educational organizations that amplifies and expands learning opportunities for our collective 18,000 students and the communities that surround us." Sounds good to us, especially the community part. Here's a link to the alliance website.