Dixie State University in St. George, Utah, was founded in an area settled by Mormons from the South. The college used to have a Confederate Rebel as its mascot. Its athletic teams now go by the nickname Red Storm. Today, Blacks make up about 2 percent of the 8,350-member student body.
In 2012 the university removed a statue called “The Rebels” from campus and placed it in storage. The statue depicted Confederate soldiers and a horse. One of the soldiers carried a Confederate battle flag. At that time, then Dixie State president Stephen Nadauld said, “It’s a beautiful piece of art. We are nervous something might happen to the statue. It might be vandalized.”
Now the university has returned the statue to the artist, 80-year-old Jerry Anderson. In return, Anderson will create another (less controversial) work that will find a permanent home on the Dixie State campus.
Anderson told the Salt Lake City Tribune, “I think it’s a bunch of baloney, but it had to happen. I think America is too politically correct.”
