MUW Missed the Boat on the Name Change

For some time now, Mississippi University for Women President Claudia Limbert has been looking to change the school’s name. After all, they began admitting men thanks to a court order in the early 80s. Yet, male students only make up somewhere around 15% of the student body.

So when I heard about the proposed name changes I thought this would be a good chance for the school to grow, especially by attracting male students who might have been turned off by a school with the name For Women at the end of it. I understand the historical significance behind the original name, and the school’s original purpose. I wish we still could have single-sex state colleges and universities if that is what they choose. But we can’t.

When I saw the list of the final dozen or so contenders for the new name, I thought some were good, some not so much. I don’t pretend to have the knowledge or skills as the Cirlot Agency so maybe I am in the minority on this, but I don’t think names like Waverley University, Reneau University, Welty-Reneau University, or the latest addition- Welty University- will help with the overall goal which is to be seen as more than a school for women.

As boring as it sounds, I would have much rather preferred something like University of Northern Mississippi or Eastern Mississippi, even something incorporating the city of Columbus, to the final three or four names.

Update: Apparently the Lowndes County NAACP doesn’t think too highly of a couple of the choices, saying they are derived from plantations of the Old South.