The local chapter of the NAACP has been among those urging a name change
Some institutions have recently distanced themselves from the term and companies have moved to drop labelling viewed as racist, including brands from Eskimo Pie to Aunt Jemima. Country music’s The Dixie Chicks changed its name to The Chicks and the owner of Dixie Brewing Company in New Orleans said its brewery and products will be renamed.
University spokesperson Jordon Sharp said administrators understand that for some people the term Dixie “stirs negative connotations associated with discrimination and intolerance.” But, he said, Dixie State also respects that the word has a regional meaning that people believe describes the “local heritage and honouring the men and women who settled the beautiful St. George area.”
Dixie State has taken steps in recent years to remove some imagery related to the Confederacy. In 2009, the school’s nickname was changed from the Rebels to Red Storm. A statue depicting a soldier on a horseback waving a Confederate flag with one hand and reaching out to a wounded soldier with the other was removed in 2012.A group of students, faculty and activists unsuccessfully pushed for a name change in 2013.
A recent online petition calling on Republican Gov. Gary Herbert to bar the use of the word Dixie in reference to the town of St. George, as well as Dixie State University, has amassed over 1,800 signatures while an opposing petition that supports the word and its connection to the town’s history has gained over 14,000 signatures. Herbert’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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