Rochester University changes name

Move to Rochester Christian University in effect after lawsuit with N.Y. school settled

Rochester University will change its name to Rochester Christian University immediately following an agreement with a similarly named college in New York.

The University of Rochester in New York filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in June 2023.

“This confusion, and the likelihood thereof, is damaging the goodwill University of Rochester has built with the public by causing it to be associated with a school lacking the storied history and reputation University of Rochester has worked tirelessly and extensively to build in the United States and abroad,” University of Rochester said in its complaint.

The two schools have web addresses that are only one character different — rochesteru.edu for Rochester University versus rochester.edu for the University of Rochester.

Rochester University has already changed their website to the new name, but the URL rochesteru.edu remains the same for now.

According to the suit, there is confusion when a Google search is done for “university” and “Rochester.”

The University of Rochester— www.rochester.edu—is the first result followed by its social media and college ranking sites. Beneath that is Rochester University—www.rochesteru.edu, which is one letter off. The New York university asserted in their filing that during a search, Google inserted a security pop-up warning users that attackers sometimes mimic sites by slightly changing the address.

“From the beginning, both institutions expressed a desire to resolve the case without going through expensive and time-consuming litigation,” RU President Brian Stogner said.

Founded in 1959 as North Central Christian College, the institution changed its name to Michigan Christian College in 1978. Then in 1997, it became Rochester College, though it remained a Christian institution.

“We reached an amicable resolution with the University of Rochester concerning this matter,” Stogner said. “During the discussions involved in coming to this decision, it became clear

that this change not only brings a resolution to the University of Rochester’s concerns, but also provides our institution with a wonderful opportunity to clarify and communicate our mission, values and purpose.”