Jackson Free Press

Yesterday, Mississippi University of Women President Claudia A. Limbert honored Sallie Eola Reneau, 131 years after her death. After an exhaustive 22-month search for an appropriate new name for the venerable Mississippi school, Limbert announced that she would be submitting Reneau University to the Board of Trustees for State Institutions of Higher Learning for their approval.

In 1856, when Reneau was 18, she began the fight to establish a state college that was not just for the Southern elite, but was a place where "the indigent and the opulent" could acquire "the imperishable riches of a well cultivated mind," states an MUW release.

Reneau, who had recently graduated from Holly Springs Female Academy, presented a sophisticated seven-page document to the Mississippi legislature and persuaded the lawmakers to charter a public college for women at Grenada. This seminal document "sent an influence upward to the higher social strata and downward to the lowest."

"Sallie Reneau was a remarkable woman. More than any other single individual, she was responsible for us being here at this university," Limbert said in the release. "Reneau's crusade for the education and elevation of women was a remarkable story," she added, "and what she had long envisioned was at last achieved in 1884 with the founding of the Industrial Institute and College at Columbus."

Dr. Hank Bounds, commissioner of higher education, added that the name change, while difficult for some, would add to the viability of the university.

"It's important that we look at every opportunity to ensure that this great institution continues to be viable," Bounds said in the release. "While changing the name is definitely an emotional issue, I think it is important that we look at what is best for the institution's growth."

Limbert will present her recommendation to the 12-member board next week. If the board members back the name change, the decision will go to the Mississippi Legislature in January 2010.

Previous Comments

ID

150785

Comment

I'm not a graduate of the "W" & I realize this is a really hot & controversial topic, but I think the suggested name change sounds very distinguished. I'm at that campus several times a year and they could use alot of help and a name change could be one of the answers. And Reneau sounds like a very formidable young lady who took on an awesome challenge to provide higher education for all women, not just wealthy females - so she should be honored.

Author

lanier77

Date

2009-08-12T10:12:13-06:00

ID

150869

Comment

The W is suffering from poor and short-sighted marketing and recruiting. When your entire administration makes it a full time job to degrade the place by listing its qualities as if they're cons - it's for women, it's in Mississippi, it's small. Those are attributes, not shortcomings! The W needs help, but it doesn't need a new name. Sally Reneau deserves to be honored, but degrading her accomplishment by declaring it can only be viable if palatable to those men and women who do not appreciate what it is or why it is, well, that's simply disgraceful. Sally Reneau's name deserves more respect and so does The W.

Author

Walum95

Date

2009-08-13T18:14:48-06:00

ID

150870

Comment

Reneau was an amazing woman who we W alums have to thank in large part for our university. However, a name change at this time, even to honor Reneau, is just not a smart move, and it isn't likely to hlep. Is changing the name going to correct the poor marketing and recruitment efforts of the past few years, or is it going to turn around the decrease in giving that came with the alumni association disaffiliation? NO. Also, changing a name, and then successfully selling the new name, will be expensive and there is no guarantee that comes with that expense. There is no need to change the name, just a need to target the marketing toward students who are looking for what is offered at MUW (and, regardless of what Dr. Limbert believes, they do exist), as well as a focus on the positive. As a W alum, I have been dismayed over the past few years as programs and events that helped with recruitment (athletics, the PEP program, W-Day weekend) were eliminated. I know that many see the alumni as "shrill blue-hairs" but this is not just an emotional thing for us. We know that mismanagement is the main issue, not the name, and until there is REAL research and marketing done to prove a name change will actually increase enrollment, we just don't trust the current administration to be successful with a name change, based on her performance thus far.

Author

lls32001

Date

2009-08-13T18:16:21-06:00