WOULD A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME…?
MUW's original and historic alumnae/alumni association is facing some unprecedented challenges as it moves forward in 2009
By Jimmie Meese Moomaw
Shakespeare’s classic question is at the center of not one, but two critical issues facing our historic Association today: The first involves President Limbert voluntarily attempting to change the name of the university to something, apparently pretty much anything, that doesn’t have the word women in the title, and the second involves a Mississippi Supreme Court mandate that prohibits the Association from using W, MUW, or Mississippi University for Women in the name of our Alumnae Association.
That’s right. While the university is paying the Cirlot agency to create a campaign and lobby the legislature to change the name of the University, they are also paying Attorney Cal Mayo to continue fighting the Alumnae Association to prevent us from using the name they are fighting to abandon.
Changing the Name of the Institution: Most of you are no doubt aware that MUW President Claudia Limbert is waging a campaign to change the name of our historic alma mater. Though she now claims that the name change issue is being proposed to her from other sources, not coming from her, that assertion is belied by the fact that she first proposed changing the name of the institution shortly after she came to MUW in 2002.
She has now created a committee and established a process for choosing a new name for the W, making it clear that the committee is charged not with determining whether the name should be changed, but to decide what the new name should be. Apparently she originally intended to have a legislator introduce legislation to approve the name change in the current legislative session. That proposal, however, met with very strong resistance from alums all over the state, and Dr. Limbert apparently no longer intends to seek legislative approval this year.
In response to Limbert’s efforts to change the name of the university, the Board of Directors of the Association unanimously voted in favor of retaining Mississippi University for Women’s current name. The Association’s rationale cited the need to preserve the historic university’s mission and maintain focus on the education of women; the extraordinary and unnecessary expenditure of resources attending a name change – resources that could be put to better use with the institution facing funding cuts; and the lack of valid research findings and viable evidence to substantiate the assertion that changing the name would lead to increased enrollment. In fact, when Randolph Macon College for Women changed its name to Randolph College to attract more males, the result was a net loss in enrollment. When more males came, fewer women did.
Changing the Name of The Mississippi University for Women Alumnae Association: Since the University prevailed in its appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Court, our Alumnae Association is explicitly prohibited from using our current name. Unlike changing the name of the University which is being pursued as a choice made by President Limbert, the Association has no choice but to comply with the Court’s ruling. Failure to do so will open the door to the Association being sued by the University.
Association President Kym Golden Gore ’97 has appointed President-Elect Anghaarad Teague ‘95, Vice President Lillian Harris Wade ‘68 and Secretary Neely Woods Hunter ’95 as an ad hoc New Name Committee to review and make recommendations for a new name for our Association. There is almost certain to be more confusion when the new name is adopted so all alums (and especially active members of our current Association) need to be prepared to recognize our nearly 120 year old Association after we are forced to re-name ourselves.
The New Name Committee will present their proposed name options to our lawyers for review to determine if they meet the conditions of intellectual property law and can be legally used by the Association. They will then present the options that pass legal muster for discussion and a Board vote at our winter meeting on January 31. As soon as possible after the Winter Board Meeting, the new name will be announced and publicized through all means available.
So Heads Up!!! Be on the lookout for the new name announcement so there will be no lingering confusion about the difference between our historic Association which has supported the University for almost 120 years and the other group President Limbert created, which has served her since 2007.
The original and historic MUW Alumnae Association is re-defining its identity and planning its future.