DIXIE STATE UNIVERSITY NAME CHANGE

MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT WILLIAMS

The Dixie State University governing bodies – Board of Trustees, President’s Cabinet, University Council, Staff Association Board, Faculty Senate, and Student Executive Council – are collectively recommending to the Utah Board of Higher Education an institutional name change for Dixie State University. Through a multidimensional, in-depth impact study regarding our name, we have learned that the inclusion of Dixie in the University’s name is increasingly disadvantageous for our students and alumni, hinders our ability to recruit students, faculty, and staff, and limits the partnerships we can build.

Although we deeply believe moving toward an institutional name change is in the best interest of our campus community, we understand this change will be difficult for many since the name has been cherished in our region since 1857, when 38 families settled Southwest Utah to grow cotton. We share in the profound pride of the local meaning of Dixie that embodies the region’s pioneering heritage of grit, service, and sacrifice. However, the word Dixie has a national meaning that is vastly different from the local understanding of the term. The data shows that Dixie means the Confederacy to 33% of Southern Utah residents, 41% of Utahns, and 64% of respondents from our recruiting region.

In making their recommendations, DSU’s governing bodies considered years of data to fully understand all aspects of this situation. However, the latest impact study conducted by Cicero Group provided the most comprehensive and enlightening insight, including these data points that demonstrate both the great support for and barriers to the name:

• 25% of Southwestern Utah, 44% of Greater Utah, and 56% of our out-of-state recruiting areas believe the name will have a negative impact on the institution’s general brand
• 54% of faculty and staff and 36% of current students believe the name will have a negative impact on the institution’s general brand
• 62% of Southwestern Utah and 46% of Greater Utah believe there will be greater brand appeal if the name remains
• 22% of recent graduates looking for jobs outside of Utah have had an employer express concern that Dixie is on their résumé
• 42% of respondents from our recruiting region and 22% of respondents from Utah say the name makes them less likely to attend DSU
• 52% of recent alumni who live outside of the state feel the name has a negative impact on the brand
• 17% of our community members, 38% of Utahns, and 52% of people outside of the state feel uncomfortable wearing our apparel outside of Utah; 47% of recent alumni who live outside of the state feel uncomfortable wearing their alma mater’s brand

Study respondents also indicate that academic reputation, making the University a welcoming/inclusive place for all, enabling students to obtain jobs after graduation, and growing its reputation as a STEM-focused polytechnic institution are the most important factors to the future success of the University. Even years before the study was commissioned, DSU began formulating its academic direction to become the nation’s first and only open, inclusive, comprehensive, polytechnic university through an extensive five-year strategic plan. A new name provides a unique opportunity to accurately depict this innovative approach to learning.

To learn more about the data and the University’s response, please review the entire report along with frequently asked questions posted below. Thank you for your support as we continue to offer our students second-to-none educational experiences.