Believe and Deceive

The 'Strategic Ambiguity' of School Slogans

By Howard Good

The first time I saw it, I could almost feel my eyes recoil. I had driven into the high school parking lot early one morning to drop my daughter off, and there it was, painted in blue and yellow, the district colors, on the side of the building. I stared at it as if I couldn’t quite comprehend its meaning, though the individual words were simple enough. “BELIEVE AND ACHIEVE,” the giant block letters commanded.

Soon the slogan seemed to be everywhere I looked. I saw it on bumper stickers as I drove around town and on the backs of kids’ T-shirts. When a new sign went up at the entrance to the middle school, it was artfully etched into the glass. Announcements sent home from school about parent-teacher conferences or unused snow days also carried the snappy slogan.

My reaction whenever I saw it was always the same: a spark of irritation. I couldn’t help but notice the vagueness of the key terms. What exactly is it that everyone’s supposed to believe or want to achieve?...