Utah Tech University: DSU Board Of Trustees Votes to Move Ahead With New Name

ST. GEORGE — The Dixie State University Board of Trustees voted unanimously to move forward with the name “Utah Tech University,” which now goes to the Utah Board of Higher Education for a vote.

In a meeting held on Dixie State University’s campus, the board discussed the naming process, agreeing to remove the word “polytechnic” from the name and change it to “Utah Tech University.”

“The way the process goes, it’s probably until next spring or next summer before there’s an actual change,” said David Clark, chair of the DSU Board of Trustees.

Members of the board took turns speaking on the name change process before the vote was held. More than 100 people were packed into the room with some standing at the back and sides, as well as hundreds more watching the livestream in the overflow area and online via Zoom.

Board members said the change to Utah Tech University was sparked by the public response to the name “Utah Polytechnic State University,” or “UPSU.”

“I have very much enjoyed the UPS University memes,” said DSU Board of Trustees vice chair Tiffany Wilson. “It is very clear that Utah Polytechnic State University was an epic failure, and we are willing to admit that.”

Wilson also said that the name change had been a long process, and that members of the name change committee and Board of Trustees, as well as their families, have faced harassment.

“The integrity of every person that’s been involved has been questioned, and it has broken my heart,” said Wilson. “Our president has been maligned at every opportunity” (referring to DSU President Richard Williams).

“You can not imagine what has been in inbox. You can’t imagine what has been in ours,” said Wilson. “It has been hard. It has been hard on his family.”

Many board members spent time during their speeches responding to claims from some community members that the name change process is part of a “secret plan,” an oft-repeated theory in the Defending Southwestern Utah Heritage Coalition Facebook group. The DSUHC has often been the most vocal opposition to the DSU name change.

Some members of the DSUHC believe the name change is due to Democrats trying to “cancel” the name Dixie. One theory states that committee member Pat Jones worked with management consulting firm Cicero Group to rig the survey numbers.

There is no proof for this claim. Pat Jones, speaking at the meeting, said that several members of the DSUHC had signed a letter questioning her integrity.

“I am not, nor have I ever been a senior advisor to the Cicero group,” said Jones. Jones also said she has not received any compensation from the Cicero group since the end of her employment there in December 2014.

Jones said “I was not aware that the Cicero group had even conducted a study” prior to her becoming a part of the naming committee.

A Deseret News article in June discovered that several domain names with alternate names for the university had been bought as early as June 2020. In a Q&A session done through the Dixie State University Facebook page, the university said:

“As we were gathering information and learning that the name was affecting students, we did secure domain names for hundreds of potential names. We didn’t want to get in the position where we’d have to pay an exorbitant price to purchase a domain name from someone else who had already secured it…

…Despite false rumors currently circulating, we are not paid by any company to undertake the name recommendation process.”

Despite the university and Board of Trustee’s attempts to answer questions, many in the DSUHC group are not convinced, calling the university’s statement “lies.”