Need help with a Kansas question

[JayFarrar]

So I have this big massive article that is running and the University of Kansas plays a key part. Again much thanks to Sam Mellinger, the finest of all sports writers.
I get the story back from an editor and it has a terse note that pretty much calls me the dumbest person alive for calling the University of Kansas "KU" when it should obviously be "UK."
I send a note back saying that it is actually KU and that it really slows down the process when errors get edited in.
Now I'm being asked to explain why it is KU and not UK. I of course sent her to the Kansas Web site, but God's honest truth is I don't know why, other than that's just the way it is for all those state schools in the old Big 8, then I had to explain what the Big 8 was. *Sigh*
So can anyone explain why it is KU and not UK?

Mucho gracias

 

[ADifferentOkie]

Yes, in the old Big 8 conference, all the "University of" schools do this.
CU, OU, KU, NU. They are all university ofs (U. of Ok., U. of Kansas, U. of Nebraska-Lincoln and U. of Colorado). I had a class where the teacher talked about this. He had actually studied it and could find no reason for it, but it seems to have just been the way it was done. He calls it the Big Eight conundrum.

 

[slappy4428]

Tell the person that 200 years from now it won't matter, because all we are is dust in the wind

 

[ADifferentOkie]

I forgot to add, one theory was that Kansas and Kentucky were two of the most successful basketball schools and Kansas went with KU so there wasn't confusion on who the UK that won the basketball game was. Then the rest of the Big 8 followed suit.

 

[buckweaver]

According to this:

http://www.ur.ku.edu/marketing/visual/faqs.shtml

7. Why is the University of Kansas known as KU rather than UK?

The University of Kansas, as it was established in 1865, has been known colloquially as KU ever since. This is consistent with other universities founded in the Midwest around that time — such as Nebraska, Colorado and Oklahoma — which place the state's initial first.

A 2004 survey showed that KU constituents prefer The University of Kansas as the institution's formal name, with less than 3% preferring Kansas University, and a wide majority preferred the nickname, KU.

 

[sportymcgee]

Tell that editor that maybe she should do a little homework. What an idiot.

 

[slappy4428]

Nothin better than a newside geek(ette) that ventures into sports...

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

I have a Kansas question. Do they still have dirt off-ramps on any of the interstates?

 

[Bubba Fett]

 

[doubledown68]

Tell her that if she changes KU to UK, she should voluntarily resign from whatever editorial position she managed to get herself into. Tell her that if she changes KU to UK to put her name, number and e-mail address at the bottom of the story, because if the story appears in a KU market, she's going to have a couple dozen sunflower and wheat chewin Kansas hicks bombarding her with calls (provided they know how to use phones where they have to dial the numbers instead of talking directly to the operators, Lassie-style).

Signed,
--An MU alum who can't stand such sheer stupidity

 

[Oz]

I have a Kansas question. Do they still have dirt off-ramps on any of the interstates?

Not one of them.

Rock ... Chalk ... Jay-hawk ... K ... U ... I can't even imagine that chant with the letters reversed. Just tell your editor to look at the logo to the left of this message.

 

[OnTheRiver]

I have a follow-up...

Is I-70 from Kansas City to Denver still proof that heck exists?