Some people may cheer “hurray for Dixie” now the future name of the institution has been selected, and many students are sounding the tune as well.
The board, surrounded by members of elected state and community representatives, chose the name over three other options presented by Sorenson Advertising after the group conducted research studies and open community forums, finding a majority support in keeping the name “Dixie.” This majority was found throughout both students and the area surrounding the school.
So far, the vote is being received positively by most students, like Tyson Hudson, a sophomore business major from Alberta, Canada.
“I think there is a lot of history in Dixie, and I am glad the name stuck with Dixie State University,” Hudson said.
Whitney Wittwer, a sophomore elementary education major from St. George, also voiced her thoughts in favor of the name
“I love it,” Wittwer said. “That’s the name I thought it should be. All of my family has gone through Dixie State College, so I felt like it should only be Dixie State University.”
But while some students were excited about the change, others felt that it was all made into too big of a deal.
“Our name is the same!” said Valerie Relethford, a sophomore psychology major from Ogden. “I think [the issue] was stupid. St. George is not racist, so why would they change our school name because of racism?”
With some students in support of the name, there are still some students who would have rather dropped the word “Dixie.”
Kristin Simons, a freshman criminal justice major from Las Vegas, said that the name should have been changed, but not because of the history.
“It kind of just limits the college in general,” Simons said. “[People] kind of write it off as ‘Oh one of those colleges.’ [If we changed the name] it could have brought in more people. Dixie is just like the epitome of a small town.”
African-American students Myles Burton, a freshman criminal justice major from Berkeley, Calif., and Billy Malard, a junior communication major from Los Angeles, are both content with leaving “Dixie” in the name.
“I think ‘Dixie’ is fine,” Burton said. “I just like the addition of ‘university.’’’
