Thanks to last week’s vote by the Utah House of Representatives, efforts to change the name of Dixie State University inch forward — but not without resistance. Opposition to a name change has shifted from preserving “heritage” to blaming “cancel culture” to the latest installment: weaponizing religion.
According to a source, Sen. Don Ipson plans to prevent a vote on the Senate floor. Aiding his cause — and stirring up considerable backing in southwestern Utah’s Latter-day Saint community — is a blurring of the lines between spirituality and Senate. Timothy Anderson, a leader of the Defending Southwest Heritage Coalition, wrote a letter to local elected officials where he miscontextualized recent comments by President Dallin H. Oaks as an endorsement of the Dixie name. Dan MacArthur, a former mayor of St. George and recently returned mission president, also drew upon religion, writing, “You know, as do we that (cancel culture) will not stop until all vestiges of history, heritage, tradition, culture, and religion are beaten down to the level of their dictated narrative and approval. You are totally naïve if you think otherwise.”