SALT LAKE CITY A bill that seeks to rename Dixie State University advanced to through both houses of the Utah Legislature on Wednesday following a passionate debate at the Utah Capitol.
The Utah Senate voted 26-3 in favor of the first substitute HB278, sponsored by Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George. Since the bill was substituted after it passed the House of Representatives last month, the House was forced to re-vote the measure; the legislative body voted 48-23 late Wednesday afternoon in favor of the amended bill. It s now on its way to Gov. Spencer Cox s desk for consideration.
The original HB278 had cleared the House of Representatives with a 51-20 vote on Feb. 10, but the bill wasn t taken up by the Senate Education Committee until earlier this week. In fact, a group of the university s students traveled up from St. George to the Utah State Capitol last month to protest the Senate s pause of the bill at the time.
SALT LAKE CITY A bill that seeks to rename Dixie State University advanced to through both houses of the Utah Legislature on Wednesday following a passionate debate at the Utah Capitol.
The Utah Senate voted 26-3 in favor of the first substitute HB278, sponsored by Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George. Since the bill was substituted after it passed the House of Representatives last month, the House was forced to re-vote the measure; the legislative body voted 48-23 late Wednesday afternoon in favor of the amended bill. It s now on its way to Gov. Spencer Cox s desk for consideration.
The original HB278 had cleared the House of Representatives with a 51-20 vote on Feb. 10, but the bill wasn t taken up by the Senate Education Committee until earlier this week. In fact, a group of the university s students traveled up from St. George to the Utah State Capitol last month to protest the Senate s pause of the bill at the time.
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The Board of Trustees at Dixie State University voted Monday to recommend a name change for the school.
The Board of Trustees at the university unanimously voted Monday to recommend changing the name of the school.
This comes after the university conducted a survey to find out how people feel about its name which has ties to the confederacy. Overall, the survey found it is still popular among locals, but has the potential to hurt the institution’s branding as it continues to grow.
“We have learned that the inclusion of Dixie is increasingly problematic for our students and alumni, hinders our ability to recruit students, faculty and staff, and limits the partnerships we can build,” university President Richard Williams said.