Demonstrators clash over Dixie State name change, argue their cases at Utah Legislature

Small crowds of demonstrators clashed Tuesday outside the Utah Capitol before joining a legislative hearing and making their cases over the proposal to change the name of Dixie State University to Utah Tech.

With lawmakers set for a potential vote on the name change on Wednesday, the Interim Education Committee held one final hearing on the topic, hearing about three hours of debate on Tuesday afternoon from students, educators, business owners and prominent alums.

An hour before the Education Committee meeting, both students supporting the Utah Tech name and pro-Dixie individuals were gathered outside waiting to be let in. Sometimes standing in the rain, they stood on the steps outside and chanted at each other, with students yelling “Utah Tech will help us grow” and the pro-Dixie crowd responding with “we love Dixie.”

Debates over the 'Dixie' name, often criticized because it connotes the Old South and because of the school's past usage of Confederate colors, mascots and imagery, have been going on for more than a year as top school officials have pushed for a new name.

More: Confederate flags, mock slave auctions, minstrel shows: Can Utah's 'Dixie' be separated from past associations?

DSU trustees and the state board of education both voted to change the name in 2020, but the Utah Senate declined to approve a change, instead passing what members called a compromise bill that charged school officials with further studying the name and potentially allowing Dixie to stay in the name.

Part of that compromise was that if Dixie was no longer in the name of the university, the board of trustees would need to create a “heritage committee” which would “preserve the heritage, culture, and history of the region and the institution,” according to the final bill that lawmakers approved in March.

Since then, a committee tasked with studying the name voted to ditch the work "Dixie," at first proposing Utah Polytechnic State University. DSU trustees responded to backlash to the "Utah Poly" name by proposing instead "Utah Tech University," voting unanimously for the change earlier this year. Last month, the state Board of Higher Education also voted unanimously to approve the change.

At the hearing, opponents of changing the name argued the fight over "Dixie" has become part of the cancel-culture wars, arguing that critics of the name are too sensitive.

Victor Iverson, a member of the three-member Washington County Commission that voted recently to pass a resolution in support of keeping the "Dixie" name, was part of a lengthy presentation arguing the name isn’t related to the Confederacy but to the school's Mormon pioneer roots. He said the university had moved away from Confederate symbols in the past and that now the name is more about the welcoming spirit of Washington County locals.

Others disagreed, though, with backers of the name change arguing the change was not about the past but the future, providing a better opportunity for the school to market itself to new students and for graduates to succeed once they've moved on.

DSU President Richard "Biff" Williams gave a presentation as to why the name should be changed, arguing the change is "aspirational" in what the university wants to be and mentioning the university has increased its STEM academic offerings by over 100% in recent years.

"I'm confident the process has resulted in the very best name for our institution, area, and state," he said.

Williams said after the hearing that he was impressed with the arguments that students made in favor of the change, noting that they stayed focused on the real-world evidence.

More: Utah Board of Higher Education votes unanimously to change Dixie State University's name

"I have to stand up for the students and what I was really proud of today was how articulate our students are, how articulate those who are in favor of the change," he said. "They aren't basing it on emotion. They're looking at the data."

Several local business leaders argued the new name could afford better life opportunities for graduates and better economic opportunities for the community.

Jed Beck, the chief revenue officer of Vasion, a St. George-based software company, said a change to Utah Tech would help his company recruit better talent within the tech industry.

Bruce Hurst, a long-time St. George resident and former Major League baseball player, served on the name change committee and backed the Utah Tech proposal.

"I'm still anxious personally," he said after the hearing. "I know it's a vote and there's a lot of work that's going on but I'm optimistic about the outcome and I hope to make a change."

The change would be expensive, costing about $2.7 million to transition to Utah Tech, according to Williams.

Vote on 'Dixie' name coming Wednesday

Tuesday's meeting was just a hearing and the Education Committee held no vote on whether or not to change the Dixie name. State legislators could vote on the matter on Wednesday, the second day of the Legislature’s current special session.

The "Dixie" name has remained a hot-button issue in St. George, with arguments picking up in recent months, becoming a key issue during campaign season for last week's municipal elections for city council and mayor. Even though St. George officials don’t have control of the name, all six candidates in the St. George elections strongly supported the DSU name.

Southern Utah — specifically Washington County — has been called Dixie since the Mormon pioneers came to the area in the 1860s to grow cotton. Those pioneers affectionately called the area Dixie since the community had similar agricultural aspirations as the American South at a time when slavery was still legal in some states. Some of those pioneers came from the South and had owned slaves, although no slavery was practiced in Utah.

The name stuck, and "Dixie Normal School" first started using the Dixie name in 1916, just a few years after The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints had opened the private "St. George Stake Academy" in 1911. The state started funding the school in 1935 and it became a university in 2007.

At various times in its history, the school embraced imagery from the Old South and students participated in events that many find offensive today. The mascot was the Rebels, the school yearbook was called The Confederate, sometimes with the Confederate flag as its cover, and a statue featuring Confederate soldiers was place prominently in one of the main school public spaces. Students held mock slave auctions to fundraise and held minstrel shows, with some activities stretching into the 1990s.

All of those features were phased out the past few decades. In 1993, the school dropped its usage of Confederate symbology, and in the late 2000s the school changed its mascot from the Rebels to the Red Storm, and then later to the Trailblazers.

Over the past year, many in the community fought hard to keep "Dixie" alive. The Washington County Commission wrote up a formal letter asking the Legislature keep the Dixie name, and in the meeting, as each commissioner expressed his views, a crowd of "Dixie" backers responded with raucous applause.

A group that called itself the Defending Southwest Utah Heritage Coalition hosted multiple events protesting the proposed name change, selling red shirts, flags and other items.

More: Waving 'Dixie' flags and holding cardboard boxes, group protests 'Utah Tech' name change

Members of the group showed up at Tuesday's hearing and took up about half the seating available, many wearing their red shirts, hats and other items.

This group also bought radio and television ads to play across the state defending the "Dixie" name.

“If we prevail and Dixie stays in the name of the university, which we are hopeful that it will, that we really take the opportunity to make it so it lives up to the value of what we claim it is, which is the friendship," Commissioner Iverson said at the Nov. 2 meeting.

Sean Hemmersmeier covers local government, growth and development in Southwestern Utah. Follow on twitter @seanhemmers34. Our work depends on subscribers so if you want more coverage on these issues you can subscribe here: http://www.thespectrum.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Utah Legislature hearing held on Dixie State to Utah Tech name change