Dixie President Lee Caldwell told his board of trustees Friday that he has set up a task force to create a new nickname for the St. George school that would retain the heritage and traditions of southwestern Utah.

Caldwell said Dixie's proposed affiliation with the University of Utah requires the name change.

"But the first thing to do is to capture the passion, values and virtues the institution stands for for future generations." Caldwell said. "We need vignettes that illustrate the traditions and perpetuate the values that have been applied in the development of the college."

Caldwell said historians Lyman Hafen and former DSC President and historian Douglas Alder have been appointed to the panel. They each can nominate two representatives to work with them.

"They will design the language of what we stand for," Caldwell said.

Once the definition has been reached, he said, then a new nickname can be recommended.

Caldwell noted the "Rebel" image was not rooted in the area's traditions. The school already has scrapped most Rebel references and discarded the Confederate battle flag at sports events.

The name "Dixie" hails from efforts by early Mormon pioneer settlers who attempted to grow cotton in the region.

School trustee Chris Roybal said most people outside southwestern Utah link Dixie to the antebellum South.

"Why so, Utah?" he asked.

Roybal argues for better ways to convey a sense of the area's heritage.

Board Chairman Shandon Gubler said the issue would be visited again when the trustees huddle Jan. 25.

For now, the school has posted a link at its Web site - new.dixie.edu - about the effort to join with the U. and become the University of Utah at St. George.

Donna Dillingham-Evans, a member of the merger task force, noted U. officials recently visited the St. George campus.

"The U. team was impressed by what they saw here," she told the trustees. "They said we need money."

Dillingham-Evans said the next step will be to tour three other colleges - in Arkansas, Tennessee and Indiana - that merged with larger universities.

"We've done what we could by phone," she said. "Now it's time for a personal visit."

mhavnes@sltrib.com