Emerson College students started a petition to change the name of the Boylston Street T station to “Emerson College,” according to a website on Change.org.
The petition, launched by three students two months ago, has now garnered more than 875 signatures and is approaching its goal of 1,000 total names, according to the site. It aims to improve visibility of the school and create a more practical marker for the transit line.
Iris Raiken, a junior at Emerson and one of the creators of the petition, said the idea came about when a professor encouraged students to develop better modes of transportation around the street intersection.
“I took a course last semester called Civic Art and Design Studio, and in that course we basically split up into small groups, Raiken said. “We came up with different ideas to help improve different types of transportation around the Boylston and Tremont Street intersection.”
Raiken said her group was inspired to focus on renaming the T station to “Emerson College” after their professor mentioned the idea.
“Our group decided … to see how other students, not only in the Emerson community, but also the Boston community, would feel about it,” Raiken said.
Carole McFall, the associate vice president of communications for Emerson, said renaming the T station would be a symbolic move for the school.
“The college is such a landmark, and I think that for community members that come in to go to school or teach classes, having the station named for the college would be something they could be proud of,” McFall said.
McFall said Emerson had looked into renaming the station several years ago, but has not pursued the option since.
Aren Kabarajian, an Emerson junior who helped create the petition, said that while many reactions to the petition were positive, some people protested the idea.
“We just have people who are more traditionalist,” Kabarajian said. “They think that one, it’s the oldest T stop, it should remain that way, and two, by doing this we’re just being a self-centered organization and that Emerson is just trying to get their name on more things.”
Once the petition has reached its goal of 1,000 signatures, the petitioners will send a letter to Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Pollack, according to Change.org.
The MBTA did not reply immediately to comment on the status of the petition.
Several Boston residents said they supported the petition, while others said the change is unnecessary.
Patrick Murphy, 30, of Back Bay, said he frequently rides the T, and prefers for the names of stations to remain the same.
“It works well,” Murphy said. “I don’t understand why they have to change the T [station] name. It’s a waste of time and money.”
Troy Lilly, 21, of Dorchester, said Emerson deserves their own T stop, considering other nearby colleges have one.
“It’s fair since Boston College has their own T stop [and] Northeastern has their own T stop,” Lilly said. “I feel like downplaying a college because people don’t think it’s that important is messed up.”
Jillian Strassner, 25, of the South End, said she is in favor of the petition because the current name is confusing to passengers.
“I would sign it because the name of the T stop is very misleading because Boylston runs the length of Boston,” Strassner said.
