Late-Breaking News Bulletin: MUW is STILL Mississippi University for Women

By Cheryl "Sherrie" Jackson Cooper

If you subscribe to the “no news is good news” philosophy and support keeping the name Mississippi University for Women as the name of our university, you’ll appreciate the latest bulletin regarding re-naming MUW: no official action has been taken by the Institutions of Higher Learning regarding changing the name.

Despite administration efforts to create the impression the decision has been made to change the name of MUW to remove the reference to “women,” the IHL “has not taken any official action regarding changing the name at the Mississippi University for Women,” according to Leah Rupp Smith, Director of Communications for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning. In fact, at this time, “There is no timeline” to even consider the matter, she said.

It is the Board of Trustees which determine what business is to be considered and sets its own agenda, Smith pointed out, making it clear that decision-making lies with the trustees and not the Commissioner. She emphasized that as Commissioner, Dr. Hank Bounds “has no vote.” When asked if there was anything that alumnae and alumni of MUW should know about the current status of the name change proposal, she said, “At this time, the Board and the Mississippi University for Women are taking the concerns of all interested parties into consideration.”

Should the IHL place MUW President Claudia Limbert’s proposal to re-name the university on its agenda for a meeting before year’s end, a majority of the 12-member Board must vote to approve the request. It would then have to be introduced to the Mississippi Legislature for consideration, Smith confirmed. “Under the current process, the Board of Trustees would have to approve a name change, then the Legislature,” said Smith adding, “It is too early to know what legislation lawmakers will sponsor for the 2010 Regular Session.”

The 2010 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature convenes at noon, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010. The timetable for processing legislation published on the Legislature Web site indicates the 9th day of the session, Wednesday, Jan. 13, as the Deadline for making requests for general bills and constitutional amendments to be drafted.

According to the published “How a bill becomes law in Mississippi,” a bill is introduced to the House or Senate then referred to a Committee to begin what can be an extensive process, including hearings and reports. If passed through Committee to the House of Origin and passed there, it would then move to the other House to begin the process all over again. From that point, it could go forward or be referred to a Joint Committee.

So even if the IHL approves the proposal in an upcoming meeting, and there are only two regular meetings on the published 2009 meeting schedule, a name change for MUW would still be far from a “done deal.” And while there is not yet a published agenda for the October meeting, an IHL press release indicates that at this meeting University Presidents have been asked to present “Cost-Savings Plans” in response to the state’s current revenue shortfalls and the State Legislature having cut funding for higher education.

The original association of alumnae and alumni of MUW, now named Mississippi’s First Alumnae Association, is on record as supporting the current name and has passed a resolution outlining key reasons why the current name should be retained as part of a “re-branding” process. According to an association press release, “Mississippi’s First Alumnae Association has responded to Dr. Claudia Limbert’s recommendation for changing MUW’s name to Reneau by passing a resolution declaring MFAeA’s support for a re-branding campaign for the W as a viable alternative to changing the name.”

Association President the Rev. Anghaarad Teague Dees notes that through re-branding, the good and positive attributes of a “product” are retained while perceived negatives are de-emphasized or eliminated. “You don’t have to change the name of an institution to change its image and the public’s perception of it.”

The W’s current name certainly carries some powerful and positive associations. Not only was the W the first state-established institution for the higher education of women; throughout its distinguished history, the institution has enjoyed a reputation for academic excellence. In a recent letter to the editor, W alumna Linda Ross Aldy wrote, “Simply keep the full name and market it as “The W,” which is what most people call it anyway.

“Just as the University of Mississippi is known far and wide as Ole Miss and Kentucky Fried Chicken, American Telephone and Telegraph, and International Business Machines are known as KFC, AT&T, and IBM, no name needs to be changed. Call it The W.” Aldy concluded that “Re-branding this way would honor the history and the mission of the institution with class and without the divisiveness of a name change.”

Lilian Wade, president-elect of MFAeA, praised the board of directors for passing the new resolution, noting that “re-branding provides a more cost effective, less divisive solution than changing the name.”

The association’s more affordable and less controversial option may gain ground with state legislators, who are expected to be dealing with a number of critical issues pertaining to the state budget and fiscal recovery in the upcoming session. Several state legislators have gone on record as opposing a name change, citing contacts from constituents who oppose the idea as well as MUW’s reputation and its established mission to offer women educational and leadership opportunities.

The fact that a name change for MUW has not even been considered yet, much less approved, by any governing body is good news to many W alums who struggle to get objective information in the midst of a university name-change PR campaign. Heather Fuselier of Tallahassee, FL, who attended MUW 1994-1998, had this to say, “Since I do not live in Columbus or even Mississippi, most of the updates I get on this are from Facebook and my friends who live there.

“To be honest, it has been very confusing what the status is because the information is second-hand and usually biased or blown out of proportion by people who are trying to get us all riled up. I've heard everything from, ‘there might be a name change,’ to ‘it's pretty much a done deal,’ but don't know what is actually factual,” she said, adding, “I was aware that a name change had been proposed and I am against it.

“The arguments for the name change have just not convinced me that it is necessary. There is much more that goes into selling a product than just the name. And in the W's case I believe that product is more than an education, it is the W experience. More work can and should be done to identify new target markets and communicate with them in their language about why the W, not a generic liberal arts college but ‘TheW,’ can be an asset to their lives. Being an alumna the first public university for women in the country means something to me and I would be saddened if that historical and important designation was hidden.”

Good news for W supporters, regardless of where they weigh-in on the name change, is that fall enrollment figures show an increase in enrollment of nearly 5%. And MUW is once again listed in “U.S. News and World Report’s” prestigious college rankings issue, cited among the Best Master's Universities by Region (#34) and an impressive 7th in Best Undergraduate Teaching in the Southern Master's category.

And for those who believe that Mississippi University for Women should retain its current name, those are two more reasons to say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”