FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010

MFAeA looks forward to real solutions, support and marketing for MUW

Mississippi's First Alumnae Association looks to a future in which all alumni, students, faculty and civic and government leaders of Columbus, Lowndes County and Mississippi stand behind Mississippi University for Women.

"We are glad that name change and merger are dead issues for this legislative session," said MFAeA president Anghaarad Teague-Dees. "Without those issues hanging over us, I hope everybody that loves what the W is and stands for will join us in making it better than ever."

A bill that would have allowed the Board of Institutions of Higher Learning to change the name of the W, or any state university, at its discretion failed to draw even a motion for advancement to the Senate floor in that chamber's Universities and Colleges Committee on Monday. The deadline for bills to be sent to the floor of either chamber was Tuesday.

As member Betty Lou Jones of Meridian told the Senate committee, rather than undertaking a costly and unproven name change, "Strengthening the W’s offerings and programs to meet the modern needs of Mississippi’s women is the change that will satisfy demands for accountability, fiscal responsibility, economy and growth. Because of the W's unique mission, it can step out of the race for numbers and serve the state with relevance."

Further, as alumnus David Ivey told the committee in a submitted statement, "I know without any doubt that the long-term value to the State of Mississippi, and the national recognition acquired by offering the W’s unique mission, is inextricably linked to marketing itself as a university for women. Any other name for our university certainly doesn’t pass the “rose is still a rose test.” A new gender-neutral name would, I believe, dilute the very value MUW offers to women, and also to the men who have the academic fortitude to attend and graduate from MUW. To neutralize our name, now for the sake of marketing to broader demographic defeats what has differentiated us from every other university in the State of Mississippi."

Moving forward, the MFAeA board of directors plans to continue working with Friends of the W to raise needed funds to replace lower state appropriations. A drive is under way to raise $2 million to help offset cuts already made and upcoming.

The board also plans to advocate for the selection of an interim president to serve when President Claudia Limbert leaves in June, and for a national search for a new president with the vision and commitment to women's education to maintain and improve the W's position as a leader in quality education.

"A stained glass window in Orr Chapel on campus depicts Sophia with the Chatauqua Assemblies motto, 'We study for light to bless with light,'" Teague-Dees said. "We can work now to keep the W shining as a beacon for the students, especially the women, who still need the education and opportunities the the W alone provides for Mississippi."