MEDIA CONTACT:
Erin Clary
Director of Communications
Maria College
518-861-2570 Office
518-588-5802 Cell
eclary@mariacollege.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 17, 2023
Maria College launches new brand with ‘random acts of kindness’ and scholarship giveaway
Albany, NY — On Friday, February 17, Maria College officially launched its new brand platform and updated logo to coincide with its newly found identity as a graduate institution and to provide a refresh to the brand of the 65-year-old institution. The College celebrated the brand launch by participating in “Random Acts of Kindness” day with giveaways and friendly gestures throughout the Albany area. The College will also be awarding two one-year tuition paid scholarships for prospective students entering the nursing or occupational therapy assistant programs.
The College is celebrating its transformation from a nursing-only junior college founded in 1958 by the Sisters of Mercy, to one that offers the community a variety of programs in the health professions and liberal arts with certificates, associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, and now, its first master’s degree with more to come. The College launched its first graduate program, the Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) program, in Fall 2020 and graduated its first class in August of 2022.
This rebrand was a strategic initiative commissioned to marketing agency Tilt36T, led by Chief Creative Officer and Founder Rob DeLuke, to help define the brand position, key brand attributes, and to refresh the brand creative and messaging.
Through intensive feedback from faculty, students, alumni, community leaders, the Sisters of Mercy and the Board of Trustees, it was reaffirmed that the heart and soul of the College is career transformation along with care and compassion. Therefore, the new brand platform is coined “Transforming CAREers.” This theme represents the mission of Maria College to foster graduates who recognize and respect the dignity of every human person and who will transform their knowledge and skill into caring and compassionate service to others.
“‘Transforming CAREers,’ the new brand platform for Maria College, emphasizes that care is more than just the outcome of graduating highly-prepared healthcare professionals, it’s modeling care and compassion in every interaction with our students so that they will go on to live the mission of the College each day in their work and communities,” said Maria College President Lynn Ortale, Ph.D. “Maria College welcomed our largest incoming class in our 65-year history this fall, and we plan to continue to grow even more by offering new academic healthcare programs in the future such as our planned virtual reality nursing simulation hub. It is important that we carry these core values with us as the College continues to expand as a graduate institution known for excellence and innovation.”
“Transforming CAREers” is represented in the College’s new commercial, a version of which debuted on Sunday during the Super Bowl Pregame Show on Fox 23. Along with this theme is a modernized logo and an all-new icon. The icon incorporates the design of the stained-glass windows found in the College’s Marian Hall, Fitzgerald Court, home of the original Religious Sister of Mercy convent. The College also plans to reveal a mascot, as chosen by the College community, later this spring as part of its 65th Anniversary celebrations. A refreshed website with the new branding will launch this coming spring.
To celebrate and publicize the new brand, the College embarked on a full day of community outreach on Random Acts of Kindness Day – Friday, February 17 – a day celebrated by various organizations nationwide.
“We chose to launch our new brand today, on Random Acts of Kindness Day, because kindness, care, and compassion are integral to Maria College’s mission, how we support our students, and the differentiator of a Maria College graduate who transforms their knowledge and skills into caring and compassionate service,” said President Ortale.
Maria’s “Kind Crews” made stops at roughly 20 various locations in the Capital Region to spread kindness and care by handing out grocery gift cards, playing music for nursing home residents, volunteering at a soup kitchen, bringing coffee to high school staff, and roses to the nurses at various hospitals, and more. The Kind Crews also handed out gift cards to hospital healthcare workers, provided by Albany Broadcasting Company, and their radio stations helped publicize the stops throughout the day. The College shared their interactions with the community on its social media channels using the hashtag #BeMariaKind.
“We wanted to show kindness and gratitude to the nurses and healthcare workers in our area to encourage them and show our appreciation,” said Maria College Board of Trustees President Mary Jo LaPosta, Ph.D. “Having produced the most nurses in the Capital Region, Maria partners closely with our local healthcare organizations to help alleviate the workforce shortage and provide care to our communities. With a consistently higher than average first-time pass rate on the state licensure exam, our nursing programs produce highly confident and knowledgeable nurses ready to give back to families right here in the Albany area.”
To further celebrate the brand launch and to provide opportunity education to additional students, the College will be awarding two “Kindness Scholarships,” that consist of one-year fully paid tuition for a new Fall 2023 student entering its Nursing, AAS (RN) program and Occupational Therapy Assistant, AAS programs. The public can nominate individuals by visiting mariacollege.edu/kindness-scholarship. Their stories will be shared on-air on Albany Broadcasting Company’s radio stations on Saturday mornings over the next few weeks. These stations include FLY 92.3 FM; B95.5 FM; 100.9 FM The Cat; Alt 104.9FM; Jamz 96.3 FM; and Magic 590-1410AM and 100.5 – 96.9 FM. Winners will be announced in March.
President Ortale encouraged the public to apply for the scholarship and notes the variety of students that may be interested.
“Maria College serves all prospective college students – students who just graduated high school, transfer students, those who have been out of high school or college for a while, and those who already hold bachelor’s degrees but may be looking to change their careers. If you know a student interested in becoming an RN or OTA, nominate them for Maria College’s Kindness Scholarship – one-year fully paid tuition!”
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About Maria College. Founded in 1958, Maria College is one of 17 colleges and universities in the United States sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. The private, co-educational, Catholic college in Albany serves approximately 800 students in a variety of bachelor degree, associate degree, a master’s degree, and certificate programs including liberal arts, healthcare management, nursing, psychology, occupational therapy, and health and occupational sciences. mariacollege.edu.
