Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you have heard that Dixie College will be hauling down the “Stars and Bars” and running up the white flag to become the University of Utah, Dixie Campus. (Or maybe just “St. George Campus” … there still seems to be just a bit of indecision about that.)

I remember when “Carbon College” became “The College of Eastern Utah.” It seems to me that something died that day. Dixie’s Director of Public Relations has reassured us that we can all continue to think of it as “Dixie” however. Spoken as a true PR flack!

There will be one thing that will change: the “Rebel” mascot. Their PR flack says that Dixie has nothing to do with the Old South so they’re going to use this opportunity to pick a new mascot. A committee is hardly working on it!

It’s kind of sad, really. Reb the Red Hawk has only been around since the fall of 2005. Does the University of Utah, Dixie Campus want to be known as the kind of place where they go around killing two year olds?

I have to admit that Reb the Red Hawk was a step up. Before that, it was Rodney Rebel. Seriously! According to news reports at the time, “Reb the Red Hawk was selected in an online poll … Chris Taylor, a spokesman for the college, (said) the students wanted to make sure that the ‘rebel’ nickname sticks.” So much for democracy. Just wait a couple of years and then do whatever you like.

I’m not sure we should take this so easily. Perhaps us public spirited citizens should stick our noses in … uhhhh … “volunteer our own suggestions” for a truely representative mascot that will capture the uniqueness that is Color Country for the University of Utah, Dixie Campus.

For example, how about Snowbirds? Nahhhh … They already used that name for a ski resort. Maybe we could throw a bone to the one-party politics around here and call them the Pachyderms. The Real Estate Agents? Maybe the Elders? (Oh … that would be sexist. I know! We could call the women’s teams, the Box Elders!)

What’s your suggestion? Leave a comment and let us know. Or, call the Public Relations Department at the University of Utah, Dixie Campus and let them know.