Sitting on a hill off McMillan Avenue in Walnut Hills, the Union Institute looks and sounds like anything except what it actually is — a university. That's about to change.

        The nontraditional school, which awards hundreds of doctoral degrees a year, has hired the Northlich advertising agency to explore a new identity and marketing.

        That will include a new name, says President Judith Sturnick.

        “It's a perfect time to get "university' into our name,” she says.

        Fresh from a weeklong retreat with the Dalai Lama at an Italian monastery, Ms. Sturnick also would like “the Union” to get involved in helping Cincinnati's race relations.

        Although it traditionally has not been involved, and in fact has been the subject of several race-discrimination lawsuits, the institute could be an aid, she says.

        “The whole purpose has been for us to break out of that ivory tower ... to get involved in social issues and concerns,” Ms. Sturnick says.

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