Dixie College's board of trustees has voted to stop flying the Rebel battle flag on campus, a concession to criticism that links the Confederate banner to racism.
The flag has flown over the southern Utah campus since 1962."I really wish we could have kept the old flag," said board member Maureen Booth. "But the mood and the political momentum to get rid of it was too strong."
Meantime, the school adopted as a new standard designed on a computer by a 12-year-old Woodward Elementary School student. The winning design, one of 55 entered, retains many of the old flag's elements: gray stars and blue bars on a field of red. The word "Dixie" angles down its front.
Booth said the new design is a good compromise but still expects some resistance to the change. "We'll probably see some Confederate flags in the stands at football games, but that's all right."
The move was spearheaded by Dixie College student body President Victor Iverson, who maintained the Confederate flag gave the implication that racism was alive and well in Utah.
Booth said nothing could be further from the truth.
"It had nothing to do with race," she said. "It was a symbol of spirit and courage."
The Rebel flag was adopted as the school banner when Dixie College split from the old city high school 32 years ago. It seemed appropriate, said Booth, since Mormon pioneers first came to the southern Utah area to grow cotton.