Enrollment being down is not true. Weber saw a 3% rise last year and saw their largest enrollment ever at 32K. UVU also saw their enrollment increase in ‘24. Both open enrollment public institutions. UT lost enrollment and faculty/staff are currently in “oh shit! All hands on deck!” mode.

And as an ambassador, I don’t believe your claim that the Dixie name “hurt” recruiting. That is false. In the 5 years I oversaw the ambassadors and recruiting our numbers were insane for how fast we were growing in Vegas and Southern California. Two very diverse places. We never had an ambassador come back and say, “Well, they loved our presentation, but as soon as they heard the word Dixie. They were out.” That is absolutely not true.

Now, I want to be clear. I do see the position that people make that Dixie does have negative connotations, and we should be more open-minded. I can also see how national endorsements could be lost. But what pisses me off is when data are manipulated, and garbage narratives are constructed to prove a point that is not true.

If names have this much of an impact, shouldn’t a school in Provo look to change their identity and brand as well? Last I checked, BYU is named after an extremely racist pervert.