November 19, 2013

No, Emerson College Is Not Actually Renaming Its Communication School After Ron Burgundy

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On December 4, Will Ferrell is scheduled to appear at Emerson—in character and in full Anchorman attire. The college, located in Boston, will hold a special ceremony to rename their communication studies and journalism school the “Ron Burgundy School of Communication.” The campus event, where Ferrell/Burgundy is set to deliver remarks and receive an award from the college president, will be followed by a screening of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which hits theaters on December 20.

Before you get too excited, school administrators only plans to change the name for one day, after which Emerson’s School of Communication will return to being the School of Communication.

“We have no plans to extend it beyond a day,” Phillip Glenn, interim dean of the School of Communication, tells Mother Jones.

“A visit from Ron Burgundy is a chance to engage with someone who understands the power of media, as well as hairspray, first-hand,” Emerson president Lee Pelton said in a statement. The idea for the temporary renaming came from an Emerson alumnus who works for Ferrell. Glenn was pitched the idea over the summer, and fell in love with it almost instantly. “I loved the first Anchorman movie,” Glenn says. “We’ve never done anything like this before. There’s plenty of excitement going around the college right now.”

This is the latest creative round of publicity for the upcoming Anchorman sequel. Not only has Ron Burgundy gotten his own Dodge Durango commercial, memoir, and Ben & Jerry’s flavor called “Scotchy Scotch Scotch”—he has his own recently opened exhibit at the Newseum in Washington, DC. (“Can Ron Burgundy save the Newseum?” the Washington Post headline read.)

Will Ferrell and Ron Burgundy (who does not exist) were not available for comment.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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