Plenty to the 180 people who turned out Wednesday night in St. George to comment on a proposed affiliation between Dixie State College and the University of Utah.
While many who spoke praised the union of DSC, located in this southwestern Utah city, with the larger U., what to call the new school if the proposal is approved was a major concern with Wednesday's speakers.
Some said the name Dixie should be retained in some form because it represents the heritage and history of the area, dubbed "Utah's Dixie" 150 years ago by pioneer settlers who attempted to make cotton a cash crop like that in the southern United States.
Others said the name Dixie symbolizes all the negative connotations of the Confederacy.
"People are offended by the name," said Malani Mafi, a student at DSC, breaking out in tears. "It's not about heritage, but about rebels and the Confederacy. You shouldn't glorify something that's wrong."
Donn Williams, who lives in nearby Washington City, said the name was a matter of regional pride and no more negative than a "Dixieland band is playing on Bourbon Street in New Orleans."
He said he has lived most of his life in the area, attended DSC, and has never since or now heard of anyone wanting to leave the area because they were offended by the Dixie nickname or school name.
It is not the first time the school has had to deal with references to the Confederacy. In the 1990s, the school axed its mascot, Rodney Rebel, a confederate soldier who at one time even waved the confederate battle flag.
Although Rodney is no more, the athletic teams are still called the Rebels.
Keandre Magee, a student from Seattle, said that as the only black player on the school's football team, he is often confronted about the Dixie name by members of other teams.
"They think Dixie is a school in the South," he said.
Frances Honesty, a student from Falls Church, Va., who said she was called a racial epithet earlier Wednesday by someone in a passing car, hoped an affiliation agreement would include a name that was not offensive for the school.
"It really is hurtful," she said.
Wednesday's public hearing was the latest step in the process for the school to affiliate with the U.
If approved by the U's Board of Trustees and the Utah State Board of Regents and with funding from the Legislature, DSC would likely change its name to reflect the affiliation. mhavnes@sltrib.com
would bring
What the Dixie State College and University of Utah affiliation would mean:
DSC's Board of Trustees wants the college to become a campus of the U. The name would likely change.
The college's president would become a chancellor reporting to the U.'s president.
Despite the transformation, Dixie would remain about 95 percent autonomous. The U. would step in where Dixie needs help, from offering library resources to providing faculty. Dixie would maintain an independent budget and board.
