Newbury, Mass. ? 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.” And: “Getting smarter at Dummer.” And this: “Students who go in come out Dummer.”

The school is named for William Dummer, an 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. “There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a person’s name.”

But in a move that has outraged some, the school’s board of trustees recently decided the smart thing to do was to drop “Dummer” from the name. The trustees have not announced a new name, but some alumni said one suggestion has been “Governor’s Academy.”

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

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 history and tradition for nothing.

A sign for Governor Dummer Academy is shown in Newbury, Mass. The school is named for William Dummer, a former acting governor of Massachusetts who donated land to start the school.

The early protests paid off. Earlier this month, the board said it would give it some more thought and consult with students and alumni over the next several months.

The founder, William Dummer, was a Newbury native who led the Massachusetts colony during the 1720s.