This week, the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics celebrated the launch of the new Lerner College brand.

At the brand launch, Lerner students, faculty and staff in new Lerner T-shirts filled Lerner Hall’s Atrium.

One such Lerner student, Pat Devlin, helped Lerner College Dean Bruce Weber to kick off the brand launch. Devlin, a Lerner Class of 2011 finance alumnus and current Lerner MBA student, was also a Fightin’ Blue Hens quarterback who went on to a five-year career in the NFL, and played for the Cleveland Browns last year.

“I just want to say that five years ago, I was in your shoes,” Devlin said to the students in the audience. “It’s been a long road for me to get back here, but I’m happy to be back at UD,” where, he said, “Definitely, opportunities abound.”

Devlin then used a Lerner T-shirt to make a ceremonial “football” throw to an audience member.

Before the throw, Weber joked, “If this is an incomplete pass and the shirt is dropped, this ceremony will end immediately. T-shirt and food distribution is going to be stopped.”

Fortunately, a member of the Lerner audience caught the pass.

But Devlin couldn’t stay long to celebrate the throw: He grabbed his book bag from under the podium and headed to his next class, which was starting soon.

“What a great way to kick off our brand launch, with a student who really reflects the brand we present to you today,” Weber said.

“I’ve been in this role for five years, and every year we cross more milestones,” Weber continued. “Today, we’ve crossed another milestone at Lerner College and it will benefit all of the people that connect with Lerner College – as students, alums, recruiters, and faculty and staff.”

In 2012, Weber explained, “We created a collaborative document called ‘The Way Forward.’ In that document, we shared a vision, which outlined a plan to bring Lerner more front and center with prospective students and faculty, and with the much wider world of business leaders, employers, corporate partners and innovators.”

“The Way Forward,” Weber said, led the college through new program creation, increased research visibility, and the development of the Lerner message, which “draws on the experience-driven learning methods that we emphasize here at Lerner and our focus on the evidence-based analytic methods that are the key to success for future managers.”

Now, he said, Lerner takes this message to the next level by working with branding and marketing firm Elliance to launch a new website, logo and brand platform.

“Every successful brand has a story to tell,” Weber said. “Lerner’s story traces a 100-year arc, starting in 1916 when the University of Delaware offered its first elective course in business management, all the way to today.”

“In that time, markets changed, technologies changed, businesses changed… but a few things remain critical to Lerner College – our culture, and continuing to do what’s required of every business: adapt, adjust and keep a steady march forward.”

“Why brand?” Weber asked. “Building a clear, strong and recognizable brand gives Lerner College a competitive advantage. It puts forth a powerful invitation to those who share our beliefs and our goals. A brand captures what we do best, but it also challenges us to be better.”

Central to this message is the concept of “Opportunity, Inc.” an idea that encapsulates the opportunities the Lerner College offers to several thousand students each semester.

“In short, Lerner College creates opportunity,” Weber said. “Opportunity is created when a student is matched with an executive mentor. Opportunity is when we have 50 firms at Meet the Firms night to talk to you about career opportunities in their firms and their industries.”

Opportunity, Inc. is about, “the opportunity created when an undergraduate marketing major begins a summer internship, feels a bit unsure, but reaches out to a faculty member and fellow students to get guidance and advice,” Weber said, as well as “the opportunity created when our expert faculty connect with local firms and work with them on their challenges in ways that yield better profits and new jobs.”

“Today we reveal to ourselves and the broader world a bright face and a strong voice for the Lerner College,” Weber said.