Verbal Identity

Colgate University is the school of first choice for students who seek rigorous classes, passionate faculty, a campus of enduring beauty, and the assurance that they will learn to thrive in work and life.

Who We Are

Colgate is a distinctive, leading American University known for its intellectual rigor, world-class professors, campus of stunning beauty, and alumni who are famously loyal to their alma mater. Through its curriculum, the engagement of the faculty, and life on the campus, Colgate challenges students to be enlightened thinkers and prepares them to be global citizens who will thrive in life and in work. Learning here, living here, and climbing the hill of our campus, you feel it: We are always ascending. Colgate is a university that is marked by a proud two-century history and shaped by its bold ambition.

Who We Are

Colgate Strengths and Themes

• Colgate’s Essentials: Colgate is a leading, national university with a distinctive scale, size, and physical beauty.
• Colgate’s Academic Core: Intellectual life at Colgate is serious and rigorous. We attract top students and faculty and engage them in an intensive, deeply personal program.
• Colgate’s Personality: Colgate is a place of energy, opportunity, tradition, and pride, where students find their fit and where alumni are exceptionally engaged and supportive.
• Colgate’s Community: Colgate is a place of lifelong connection; its academic program and campus experience prepare students — within an environment that values diversity—to think powerfully, succeed in their chosen professions, and thrive in life.
• Colgate’s Ambitions: Colgate seeks to become, as it begins its third century, America’s finest undergraduate institution, the first choice for students of promise and achievement. It is entering a new phase of excellence across every aspect of the University.

Narrative Tone and Personality

The words should inform the tone (both written and visual) when creating content to promote the University.

• Bold
• Optimistic
• Pride
• Rigor
• Beauty
• Gravitas
• Energy
• Tradition and Ambition