NEWBURY, Mass. (AP) – Governor Dummer Academy, the country’s oldest independent boarding school, was founded before the Revolution. Jokes about its name have been around roughly as long.

There’s “Dumb and Dummer,” “Getting smarter at Dummer,” or students who go in “come out Dummer.”

The school is named for William Dummer, a former acting governor of Massachusetts who donated land to start the school. Over the years, students and alumni have accepted the ribbing about it with varying degrees of annoyance or indifference.

“We all get over it,” said student Kelsey Johnson, 18, of Newbury. “There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a person’s name.”

But in a move that has sparked outrage, school trustees decided it was time to put the kidding to rest and drop “Dummer” from the school’s name.

Board of trustees president Dan Morgan announced the decision to “refine our school’s name” in a letter last month. A name change, Morgan wrote, would broaden the academy’s appeal beyond its regional base to places where the Dummer name can be a turnoff.

“We have come to realize that our name, particularly when heard for the first time, can stand in the way of our gaining our deserved recognition,” Morgan wrote.

Alumni responded with letters and e-mails that forcefully questioned the need for a change and indicated their financial support was at stake. Alumnus Thomas Driscoll, the Essex County Clerk of Courts, said the school would be tossing aside the school’s history and tradition for nothing.

“We can glitz this a little to get 10 to 12 boarders who look at this as a national school,” Driscoll said. “I say, Why don’t we get 10 to 12 kids who aren’t so shallow?”‘

The early protests paid off. After alumni and students filled a meeting with trustees to explain their opposition early this month, the board decided to rethink its decision. It announced it would explain why it endorsed what it called a “name evolution” over the next several months as it consulted with students and alumni. It didn’t rule out keeping the present name.

“I think they’re running into a brick wall,” Driscoll said.

Todd Bairstow, a 1991 Gov. Dummer graduate, said he hopes the trustees stick with their decision. He’s wanted a name change since he was a student, and thinks it’s needed in the hyper-competitive world of elite boarding schools.

“I love the place, I really do,” said Bairstow, 32, an advertising writer in Boston. “You don’t want a place you love to be the butt of jokes, to be a punchline.”

The school’s founder, William Dummer, was a Newbury native who served as acting governor of the Massachusetts colony during the late 1720s. The school was founded as “Dumm’r Charity School” in 1763 on land left in a bequest by Dummer.

It later became “Dummer Academy,” which is what is was called until the mid 20th century, when the name changed to “Governor Dummer Academy.” Among the historical giants associated with the school are Paul Revere, who created the first seal for the school, and John Quincy Adams, who served as secretary to the Board of Trustees.

About 370 students share 450 acres at the school, located in a rural coastal town in the northeast corner of the state, about 35 miles from Boston. Its campus is a mix of old New England charm and the modern efficiency of the 48,000 square foot field house.

Boarding students, which make up about two-thirds of the student body, pay more than $33,000 in annual tuition. Day students pay $26,000.

The school, which has a $61 million endowment, accepts 31 percent of its applicants, according to its profile on Boarding School Review.com. That ranks it the 14th most selective among 170 schools surveyed, behind elite New England prep schools such as Milton Academy and Phillips Academy in Andover.

With the school’s apparent wealth and relatively high selectivity, some wonder why a name change is needed. But in a paper released by the school, the board of trustees found “significant vulnerability” in the dual trends of rising tuitions and shrinking numbers of students interested in boarding school.

The trustees concluded few had heard of the school outside the local area, citing both anecdotal evidence from admissions personnel who travel the country and a telephone survey of 300 prospective students and parents. Among students unfamiliar with Gov. Dummer, the name was “a major detriment,” the trustees said.

“Because people don’t know us, they see our name, poke fun, and turn the corner,” the paper read. “When it comes to attracting and matriculating students, the outside perception does matter.”

Jeff Kane, a 1965 graduate of Gov. Dummer, said whatever reasons trustees had for their decision, but they didn’t broadly share them with alumni, many of whom were miffed to learn about the name change through the media. They didn’t support it as a result, he said.

“I would have thought the board would have anticipated that and approached it in a more sensitive manner,” said Kane, 58, of Swampscott.

Judy Klein, a school spokeswoman, said in an e-mail, “The Board always consults representatives from our different constituencies when making decisions about the future of the school, as they did this time.”

Matt Moore, a 16-year-old Gov. Dummer student from Chicago, said his main objection is the disrespect the trustees showed William Dummer.

“Since he gave the land, he should be recognized and his name should be recognized,” Moore said.

Moore and others said most students are against a name change, though the fervor varies among students.

Ben Rogers, 17, of Weston, said he could be persuaded to support a name change. He used to kid his father, a Gov. Dummer alumnus, about the name until he started attending this year. It can have a negative effect on people who’ve never heard of the school, he said. If the trustee believe the school’s future is at stake, a change is worth it, he said.

“I don’t want to see the school go down the drain because they won’t change the name,” Rogers said.

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