ASU officials said they object to a new advertising campaign by UA, which consists of billboards in the Phoenix area urging students to “Head south [and] move ahead,” and the university’s new tagline.

ASU officials said the tagline, which reads, “Arizona’s World Class University,” implies UA is the state’s only world-class university.

“We are not throwing rocks at them,” said ASU Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Communications Terri Shafer. “UA is a great school with a great mission. What we object to is the slogan, which we feel is divisive.”

Shafer also said she was surprised by the new billboards, which she said she does not feel are effective in reaching out to undergraduate students.

Universities are given mailing lists from testing services, who give out standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT, every year, which is usually the way universities recruit students, Shafer said.

“We think our approach works,” Shafer said. “Year after year, we get record numbers of students.”

Stephen MacCarthy, UA’s vice president for external relations said the phrase “world-class” is being misinterpreted by the press and ASU officials.

“It’s not really a slogan,” MacCarthy said. “It’s more of an internal philosophy of who we are. It’s not anything that’s aimed at [ASU].”

Shafer, however, took offense, saying the catchphrase makes UA out to be the only world-class institution in Arizona. She cited a study of universities worldwide, conducted earlier this year by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, which listed both ASU and the UA in the top 20 percent.

MacCarthy added the phrase “world-class” did not appear on any of the billboards, and insisted it would not appear in any future advertisements, contrary to what was reported by media outlets like ABC 15 News in Phoenix and the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson.

Instead, MacCarthy said, the phrase is intended to celebrate the achievements of the university’s brightest students and used to motivate faculty and students.

“We have at this institution truly world-class students,” MacCarthy said, pointing to UA students’ participation in the Mars program as an example. “We think our new philosophy reflects that.”

Human nutrition junior Bruce Weaver, who saw the “Head South” billboards while visiting his sister at the Downtown campus, said their location made them look like a direct challenge to ASU.

“That’s how I would take it if I were [ASU administration],” Weaver said. “It’s kind of strange to see UA billboards across the street from the ASU campus.”

Weaver said the University’s response should be to advertise in Tucson, with billboards or ads in the Daily Star.

Shafer said ASU had no such plans.

“We’re not going to do that,” Shafer said. “If UA has the money and wants to spend it that way, that’s their choice.”

Reach the reporter at derek.quizon@asu.edu.