IPFW athletics dropping acronym, will use 'Fort Wayne'

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne plans to drop the acronym IPFW when it comes to athletics and instead go simply by the name of the city as part of a rebranding effort.

Athletic Director Kelley Hartley Hutton says the change in name for athletics only will elevate the school's brand beyond northeastern Indiana.

In 2012, The Summit League Council of Presidents Strategic Framework outlined a plan to promote metropolitan campuses with their geographic names in order to build local identification and visibility for their communities.

Some Mastodon teams including basketball, baseball and golf already had been using 'Fort Wayne' on uniforms before the announcement Monday that came in the wake of a 2015 study that found those outside northeastern Indiana found the name confusing.