It could be a turkey and swiss on rye bread with mustard. Maybe a tuna wrap with celery. But whatever it ends up being, it won’t be anything with ham.

Food.com is hosting a contest to name a sandwich after Lorraine Branham, the dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. But she has already made is clear that pig is out.

‘I haven’t had pork in 35 years,’ she said.

Though ham is ruled out, Branham, a Philadelphia native, said that she would choose to be ‘a corn beef special,’ a Philly specialty.

Currently, a sandwich named after David Rubin, the former dean of Newhouse, holds a place on Food.com’s menu, quite appropriately a Reuben sandwich. It is the only dean-inspired sandwich on the list, at least for now.

Food.com and Newhouse are holding a competition to create a sandwich for Dean Lorraine Branham. The contest, which was launched on Sept. 23, will accept entries until Wed., Oct. 7. The creator of the winning entry will receive a $25 gift certificate to the SU bookstore and the privilege of bragging rights.

A panel of judges will first evaluate the sandwiches and then Branham will taste the five highest-ranking entries on Oct. 9 to determine the winner.

This competition is the brainchild of The NewHouse, a student professional organization in the Newhouse School.

‘I thought it would be a perfect way to honor our dean, and give The Dean Reuben some ‘faculty company’ on the sandwich menu,’ said Joseph Misiewicz, the organization’s president and a senior advertising major, in an e-mail.

While Rubin’s inclusion on Food.com’s menu stemmed from his name’s homophonic similarity to a Reuben sandwich, the idea to add a Dean Branham sandwich was inspired by sheer hospitality.

‘The Dean Reuben sandwich will forever honor our prior dean, and it was only appropriate to welcome our newest dean with a branded sandwich of her own in Food.com,’ said Misiewicz.

Rubin is happy to share the spotlight that comes with sandwich stardom.

‘I think it’s great,’ Rubin said. ‘We need some more sandwiches. We’ll see what the competition comes up with.’

With two more days of the entry period, a wide array of entries has already been submitted.

‘Students have shown a great interest in the contest… we have breakfast sandwiches, vegetable-lovers sandwiches, sandwiches with unique ingredients,’ Misiewicz said.

Sophomore public relations major Whitney Mercer appreciates the fun and exciting aspects of the competition.

‘I think students will enjoy ordering a sandwich based off a specific person in Newhouse,’ Mercer said.

She also appreciates the practicality of having students contribute to the creation of Food.com’s latest acquisition.

‘I think it’s good because students are often the people who purchase the most food from Food.com, so it’s good for them to be involved and to be able to order something one of their peers created,’ Mercer said.

Although Branham never anticipated that her efforts as dean would result in her immortalization in the form of a sandwich, she said it’s an honor.

‘I’m interested in seeing the creativity of Newhouse students manifested in a sandwich,’ she said.

As far as Branham’s tactic for judging goes, she said she is judging mostly for taste and creativity. ‘(The students) need to think about what they and their friends like to eat. At the end of the day, what really matters is if it tastes good,’ she said.

The Dean Branham sandwich may spark some speculation as to whether the list of dean sandwiches will continue to grow. Misiewicz believes it would be a nice tradition to have.

‘I think branding a sandwich for the Newhouse dean is an honorable gesture with a dose of playfulness,’ Misiewicz said. ‘And I would love to see it as a continued tradition in the Newhouse School.’

jlsmit22@syr.edu

Published on October 4, 2009 at 12:00 pm