As a direct descendant of the founder of St. George and of a mother who was homecoming queen at Dixie College, I have close ties and warm feelings for Utah’s Dixie. However, I strongly endorse removing the Dixie name from the area’s university because I believe it would significantly benefit a growing and more diverse student body and faculty moving forward.
The name Dixie will always bring up uneasy questions for students who try to build lives outside Utah, especially minority students.
It will also continue to make it more difficult to recruit foreign and out-of-state students and athletes, create issues for the school’s sports teams as they try to advance in NCAA, Divison I, and discourage some well-qualified professors from accepting faculty positions. To bring added prestige to St. George, I suggest the name be changed to either Utah State University at St. George (USUSG) or St. George State University (SGSU).
Paul Snow Carpenter, Salt Lake City
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