Dixie State University

Dixie State University

Type	Public[1]
Established	September 19, 1911 (1911-09-19)
President	Richard Biff Williams
Academic staff	423
Students	8,570[2]
Location	St. George, Utah, United States 37°5′43″N 113°34′40″W / 37.09528°N 113.57778°W / 37.09528; -113.57778Coordinates: 37°5′43″N 113°34′40″W / 37.09528°N 113.57778°W / 37.09528; -113.57778
Campus	Urban main campus: 100.11 acres, campus off-site property: 97.1 acres, total campus: 200.99 acres
Colors	Red and Tan[3]
Nickname	(Pending)
Mascot	(Pending)
Website	www.dixie.edu

Dixie State University (formerly Dixie State College) is a public university located in St. George, Utah, United States.

History

Community Arts Building in St. George, the original home of Dixie College

The institution was founded by the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) on September 19, 1911, as St. George Stake Academy. In 1916, the academy, which is located in a region that was called "Utah's Dixie" by Brigham Young and the local settlers who were slave overseers from North Carolina and Mississippi,^[4] became Dixie Normal College, and then in 1923 the name was changed to Dixie Junior College. In 1933, the LDS Church discontinued its support of the college, and the local citizenry had to maintain the school until Utah began supporting it as part of the state's higher education system in 1935.^[5]

In 1952, the institution's sports teams adopted the "Rebel" name. In 1956 the institution adopted a caricature of a Confederate soldier as the official mascot. Starting in 1960, the Confederate flag was flown along with the American flag at official ceremonies. In 1961, the institution's sports teams began wearing the Confederate flag on their uniforms. In 1963, the institution's yearbook changed names to The Confederate. In 1963, the institution built and dedicated the Shiloh dorms.^[6] Between 1963 and 1993, the institution increased their Confederate identity: parade floats adopted themes from the Old South, students appeared in black face and Confederate costumes, horseman carried the Confederate flag at school events; mock slave auctions were held, and the yearbook staff depicted a scalping with someone dressed as a Native American and another person hanging from a tree.^[7]

In 1970, the school became Dixie College. In 1987 "the Rebels," a large bronze statue of soldiers with a Confederate flag was placed on campus. In 1993, the institution said it was officially ceasing the use of the Confederate flag as a school symbol^[8] and created a new "stars and bars." In 2000 it became Dixie State College of Utah when the Utah State Legislature authorized the college to offer baccalaureate degrees. When the school first opened its doors, there were only 42 students. In 2000 when the college became a four-year college, enrollment had reached approximately 7,000 students.

On September 7, 2007, Dixie State College Board of Trustees members announced that Dixie State College of Utah would petition the University of Utah to become the University of Utah–St. George.^[9] The proposal was approved by the Dixie State College Board of Trustees on October 7, 2007, and by the University of Utah Board of Trustees on October 14, 2007; however, this did not come to fruition

In 2011, a bill was drafted for the review of the Utah State Legislature and the Utah State Governor to support Dixie State College's transition to university status.^[10]

The institution contracted with a local advertising firm, Sorenson Advertising, to investigate names for the institution as a university^[11] and found that alumni overwhelmingly supported the name "Dixie" while less than half of faculty/staff supported the name "Dixie" (p. 48).^[12]

In 2013, the Utah Legislature changed the status of the institution from a college to a university and named it Dixie State University. Governor Gary Herbert signed the bill into law in a ceremony on campus, calling the new university into existence on February 16, 2013. President Stephen Nadauld of Dixie State University and others recognized this step as the fulfillment of the dream of the original Mormon pioneers of the area to have a university for their communities.

Also in 2013 the Board of Trustees approved a student driven proposed campus-wide tobacco ban. The ban prohibits all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes. The ban went into effect on January 1, 2014.^[13]

The primary campus of Dixie State University is located in St. George, Utah, with the Hurricane Education Center campus extension located in Hurricane, Utah.

Academics

Part of the campus of Dixie State University

The University offers over 150 academic programs^[14] with baccalaureate degrees in Accounting,^[15] Art,^[16] Biology, Business Administration, Communications,^[17] Computer and Information Technology, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Dance, Dental Hygiene, Elementary Education, English, Finance, History, Music, Music Education, Nursing, Psychology, hotel management Physical Science Composite Teaching, Spanish, Social Sciences Composite Teaching, and Theatre. Dixie State University is continuously working to provide more academic programs.

Student Association

Dixie State University provides an opportunity for students to participate in its Student Association (or DSUSA) each year. Various responsibilities fall to DSUSA including the planning of most on campus events, charity and service work, and relations between University Students and the schools faculty and surrounding community. DSUSA is broken up into three major groups of student leaders; Executive Council, Managers, and Committee Members. All Executive Council members and most Managers receive some sort of financial aid in return for their work. Any student is able to apply for any position in DSUSA, and if chosen is asked to maintain good academic and community standing, while abiding by the Universities other rules and bylaws.

Athletics

Official Athletics logo

Dixie State competes in NCAA Division II as a full member of the Pacific West Conference and as a football-only member of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Starting in 2016, Dixie State will compete in football in the Rocky Mountain Athletics Conference (RMAC). The team name is the Red Storm. Previously, when the school competed in Junior College athletics, Dixie State teams used the team name "Rebels".

Raging Red Show Choir

The Raging Red Show Choir is a goodwill and showcase performance group composed of students that was started in January 2009.^[18] Raging Red has performed throughout Utah, in parts of Nevada and Arizona, and performed at the 2010 World's Fair in China. The group is directed by Merilee Webb and performs a variety of different styles of music, including hip-hop, spiritual, and Broadway, and stages scenes from popular films and television programs.

For the 2010 World's Fair, its program included the song "Belle" from Disney's Beauty and the Beast, "For Good" from the Broadway production of Wicked, a medley of Muppet music and skits from The Muppets and Sesame Street, as well as a dance mix of seventies classics. Each song includes solo performances by members of the choir and almost always require improvisation at some point.

In April 2010, Raging Red opened a show for Jon Schmidt as a fundraiser for its trip to China the following month, which was in part funded by the students.^[19]

Merilee Webb has a Master's in Music Education from Brigham Young University, where she was selected "Most Outstanding Musician" in 1983, and teaches in Salt Lake City and St. George.^[20] Webb has served as Associate Director for "Young Americans," where she met Raging Red's then-future choreographer, Mackenzie Koehler, a student at the time.

Box office

Dixie State University Box Office is located in the Cox Auditorium (aka the Avenna Center) in between Tennis Courts and the Smiths Computer Center. The Box Office is the main ticketing center for events on campus including sports, music, theater, and dance. Although the main office for the Box Office is in the Cox Auditorium there are offices in various buildings:

• Cox Auditorium: Celebrity Concert Series, Concerts, Dance, Choir, Dixie's Got Talent, Music
• Eccles Black Box: Theater
• Eccles Main Stage: Theater, Dance
• Eccles Concert Hall: Choir, Band
• Hansen Stadium (East and West sides of the stadium): Soccer, Football, Outdoor concerts, Senior Games
• Cooper Field: Softball
• Burns Arena (East and West sides of the gym): Basketball, Concerts
• Gymnasium (aka Old Gym): Volleyball

Controversy

In 2013, Dixie State University student Like Klabanoff attempted to form a sorority called Phi Beta Phi but was told by administrators that the use of Greek letters in the name was prohibited because the university did not want to give the public impression that it was a "party school."^[21]

On March 4, 2015, three students filed a federal lawsuit against Dixie State University alleging the university violated their free speech rights by refusing to let them post fliers with satirical images of former President George W. Bush and revolutionary leader Che Guevara.^[22]

Notable alumni

See also

• Dixie Rotary Bowl
• Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dixie State University.

• Official website
• Dixie State Athletics website