After being approached by legal representatives of a sorority and a fraternity of the same names, Alpha Chi and Sigma Chi residence halls will be shortening their names. Rather than face the threat of legal action, Biola administrative figures have announced that the dorms will be called just Sigma and Alpha from this point forward.

Despite being among the oldest buildings on campus, the two upper-campus dorms built in the 1970s, have little history compared to the Greek-letter societies — Sigma Chi has existed since 1854 and Alpha Chi Omega since 1885. The organizations clearly have legal grounds to defend the exclusivity of their names. What’s interesting, then, is why the decision was made to give the dorms the same names as these well-established, university-related organizations which Biola did not intend to affiliate with.

Whatever the reason, it was only a matter of time before somebody approached the university threatening legal action. And now that they have, changing the names is the simplest and best option for Biola in this case. The dorms are already colloquially referred to as Alpha and Sigma, so dropping the Chi shouldn’t be a difficult transition to make. It wouldn’t be worth the ensuing legal battle over the three letters, or the attempt to work out something with the fraternal groups. Biola has made changes to dorm names before, including Gamma Chi, now known as Emerson.

The renaming, though sad, should actually work out in students’ favor. With the interchangeable branding, members of the fraternities and sororities could mistake Biolans wearing Alpha or Sigma Chi T-shirts and sweatshirts for fraternal group members –– not to mention confusion when a girl is wearing a hoodie emblazoned “Sigma Chi.” The frat is protective of its identity, and does not like to see girls wearing Sigma Chi-branded attire.

While it’s nostalgic to see beloved buildings re-branded, it’s a change that had to be made sooner or later, and now is as good a time as any.