JACKSON — Hours of testimony and waiting to find out if Mississippi University for Women might receive a new name culminated in nothing Monday in Jackson.
Not a single member of the Senate Universities and Colleges Committee moved to pass Senate Bill 2702, which sought to give the Mississippi board of trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning authority to enact a name change, when committee chair Sen. Doug Davis, R-Hernando, finally put the issue to a vote around 5:30 p.m. The issue had initially been taken up at 1:30 p.m. as the committee heard testimony for and against the name change before being forced to recess due to time constraints.
The bill died for lack of a motion, never to be voted on by the Senate or passed to the House”s corresponding committee. House Universities and Colleges Committee Chairman Rep. Kelvin Buck, D-Holly Springs, had already stated publicly he wouldn”t introduce any legislation regarding a name change because the initiative had no support in the House.
But Davis and the Senate committee proceeded anyway, prompting two groups of concerned citizens to travel to Jackson to sit in on the hearing. One group, sporting “NO on SB 2702” stickers were present to oppose the bill. Another group, anchored by the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link, wore “Change the Name” stickers in support of granting the College Board authority to change the name of only MUW.
The bill, which was introduced by Davis, fell flat despite the support of the Link, the Columbus City Council and Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, the Mississippi Economic Council and Hank Bounds, commissioner of higher education. Bounds, Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees President Scott Ross, Columbus Mayor Robert Smith, MEC President Blake Wilson and 4-County Electric Power Association CEO Allegra Brigham all spoke to the committee Monday in favor of the bill.
Bad timing
Speaking in opposition to the bill were Betty Lou Jones, former president of the MUW Alumnae Association, now called Mississippi”s First Alumnae Association, MUW”s disaffiliated alumni group; and Anne Franklin Lamar, a 2009 MUW graduate and current University of Alabama graduate student.
Lamar contended the time is wrong for a name change with MUW President Claudia Limbert set to resign in July and little input having been sought from the student body regarding the issue.
“As my class” president, I feel misrepresented. We were never asked as a student body how we felt about the current name,” she said. “I think this is because they know we would answer with pride and that we would reject a name change.”
Crucial mission
Lamar argued that MUW”s women”s mission is crucial in a state where domestic violence and teenage pregnancy remain at high levels and women are paid 25 percent less than men on the average.
“In a country that has that overwhelming statistic, how can you say that educating women to be leaders is not a viable way of marketing a university?” she said.
Bounds took no exception to MUW”s emphasis on women, but did argue the school needed to change its image in order to attract more students and offset a potential 20 percent cut in funding over the next two years.
“If they don”t get every tool in their belt possible, I don”t know that the university can survive. Is it important enough to keep the name to risk not having a university?” said Bounds. “A year from now, MUW won”t look anything like it looks today.”
A name change alone …
Bounds did admit a name change may still not be enough to save MUW, but it would make the school more attractive to incoming freshmen.
After the committee failed to act on the bill, Bounds said he would meet with MUW”s staff to determine a plan of action to market the school for future growth. He says growth is necessary to offset cuts in state funding.
“I don”t know what we”re going to do. We”ve already cut millions out of the budget. There are very few places left to cut,” he said. “In the absence of significant tuition increases, which we can”t do because then we lose the edge there …”
MUW is already set to increase tuition by 5 percent in each of the following two years.
Getting ”back on its feet”
Lamar was unfazed by Bounds” prediction of an unrecognizable MUW.
“I believe with new leadership The W will jump back on its feet. I think Dr. Bounds knows the figures and I trust him, but I think he”s just gotten a taste of how W alums feel about their university and will come to realize we”re a powerful asset and we can help him,” she said.
Joe Max Higgins, president and CEO of The Link, saw Monday”s results differently.
“I think Bounds made it very clear that without a name change The W may not survive or look like it does two years from now. With the growth they”re projecting, I don”t think it will be sufficient to keep The W”s doors open,” he said.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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