SALT LAKE CITY — After nearly two hours of discussion and public testimony, a Senate committee voted 6-1 Monday to support the latest version of HB278, legislation that would set in motion a process to change the name of Dixie State University.
The substituted version of HB278 involves a “lengthy process” for the name change and “lots and lots of public feedback,” Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, told the Senate Education Committee.
The bill, which moves to the Senate for further consideration, calls for a public process and for higher education officials to deliver a name recommendation to the Legislative Management Committee no later than Nov. 1.
The bill requires no specific name but says if the university’s Board of Trustees and Utah Board of Higher Education forwards a name to the Utah Legislature that does not include the term Dixie, the trustees “shall all establish a heritage committee to identify and implement strategies to preserve the heritage, culture and history of the region on the campus of the institution, including the regional significance of the term ‘Dixie.’”
The bill includes a one-time $500,000 appropriations request to help the preservation efforts of the heritage committee.
The bill says the name recommended by higher education officials shall reflect the institution’s mission and significance to the surrounding region and state, as well as enable it to “compete and be recognized nationally.”
As originally drafted, HB278 said the university’s new name could not include the term “Dixie.” That language does not appear in the bill supported by the committee.
The initial bill was sponsored by Miles with McKell as the Senate floor sponsor; neither are from southern Utah, although Miles is the co-chairman of the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee.
The substitute bill lists Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George, as floor sponsor, suggesting it may be more palatable to area constituents.
The committee heard public comment from dozens of students, alumni and community leaders. Some said the community had not been part of the process now before lawmakers, and the change was tantamount to cancel culture.
Some students and recent graduates urged a name change because the name Dixie was harming their employment and graduate school prospects.
HB278 passed handily in the Utah House by a vote of 51-20 on Feb. 10 and appeared to stall in the Utah Senate until last week when Senate leaders announced the bill was being worked on, would be debated and was assigned to the Senate Education Committee.
In the House, only one representative from southern Utah voted for the bill, Rep. Brad Last, R-Hurricane. Last is Dixie State’s vice president of advancement.
DSU President Richard “Biff” Williams said Monday that the name change had been discussed for decades but sensibilities about the term “Dixie” have changed over time. An impact study commissioned by the university indicated that for some students, the name has become an impediment to their futures when they seek work or further education.
“I don’t think any president in their right mind would want to do this, but when you look those students in the eye, I have an obligation to advocate for them. It is my problem and that’s why I’m here today,” he said.
“We studied this out. We know we have an issue. We need to solve it. If I don’t have the courage to stand up for the students, I don’t know who will.”
The division over the name was reflected in a demonstration on the DSU campus earlier in the day, with some students carrying Dixie flags and picket signs that said “No Shame in the Name,” “Save Dixie” and even “Dixie Rebels,” which was the university’s former mascot until it was changed to the Trailblazers.
Meanwhile, a smaller group of counterprotesters shouted “Change the name now.” Last week, a group of students from the university demonstrated at the Capitol urging a name change. Some met with legislative leaders.
Jeanetta Williams, president of the NAACP Salt Lake Branch and Tri-State Conference of Idaho, Nevada and Utah, told the committee that “a lot of people use the term (Dixie) without understanding the racial origin of the term.”
Williams said “it is time to retire the name Dixie for the Dixie State University with another name that does not reflect the Confederacy.”
Others, such as St. George attorney Tim Anderson, who served more than a dozen years on the university foundation board including several years as its chairman, said, “There is not a racial history with regard to southern Utah, which has been inferred from a strategy that’s been used by the university.”
In the past year, as the nation has undergone a racial reckoning following the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minnesota, the term Dixie has become more problematic in public life.
Country music group The Dixie Chicks dropped the term from their name. They are now The Chicks.
In January, Intermountain Healthcare dropped the term from its St. George hospital’s name, too, changing it to Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital.
Washington County tourism director Kevin Lewis said he has lived in the area for 30 years and is a strong proponent of celebrating the area’s heritage and culture.
However, he noted the tourism office dropped “Dixie” from its strategy 16 years ago.
“It was confusing and not relevant to the markets that we were targeting. Our job is to maximize the revenues generated to create a superior experience for the visitors and residents. For years the university’s been facing the same challenges. With the move to D1 (NCAA Division I athletics) the exposure has grown substantially,” he said.
Lewis said the tourism office receives questions about the word Dixie daily.
“Conversations and symbols are perceived as less than welcoming. The discussion is detrimental to the spirit that defines the area. The longer this goes on the more negative impact will be there. I personally could see no quantifiable benefits to students, to visitors or to the institution by keeping the name Dixie,” Lewis said.
Janet Campbell, meanwhile, who is an instructor at Dixie State University, said she has traveled extensively during her 20 years with the institution to various conferences and training opportunities, proudly wearing Dixie State on her name tag.
“I have never had any experience that anyone was concerned about the name Dixie. Sometimes people ask about it and I was able to explain that very briefly and they were very interested and intrigued. I didn’t have to spend a long amount of time explaining that and it was always received very favorably,” she said.