This study explores the question how the concept of university identity may be suited to address the relationship between present and past. As two central notions social identity and reputation are discussed. We presume that reputation is a socially distributed representation that monitors social identity. The analysis provides that self presentation from the historical perspective serves as an efficient way of identification of the contemporary university. Addressing history is not only part of new promotional culture. This is a symbolic representation of the modern university’s social embeddedness. The major implication is that the university acts a partner of the state. Historical reference acts as an ideological construction, i.e. a symbolic representation of values, concepts and arguments for achieving the goals of the university corporation as part of the Russian nationhood. Events of the past become the standard for positive evaluation and legitimization of its present functioning. We discuss the social embeddedness of Russian university based on the university websites presuming that the websites reflect the changing nature of discursive practices and provide evidence to monitor the values and identities they communicate.