Dixie State Name Change Bill Stalling In Utah Senate

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A push to change Dixie State University’s name is stalling in the GOP-dominated Utah Senate after a new push to drop the term sparked a backlash.

A spokesman for the institution in Southern Utah told the Associated Press on Friday that administrators have been told it won’t be heard this year.

Jordon Sharp says the university hopes the bill will be revisited before the session ends.

The proposal has already passed the state House amid a national reexamination of the remnants of the Confederacy and slavery. But many local residents and others want to keep the name, saying it’s tied to state history, not slavery.