The "W" on Its Way to Becoming the "R" - Reneau University

This logo of MUW is on its way to becoming completely obsolete.

Reneau University is the final choice for the new name of the Mississippi University for Women. MPB’s Cari Gervin reports.

MUW President Claudia Limbert received a standing ovation Monday when she told the faculty that school’s new name will be Reneau University.

But that crowd did not include alums like Cheryl Cooper. She says a name change will cost money at a time when the university is already cutting programs.

“I believe that Mississippi University for Women can be successfully marketed in a unisex-type way as the W, its longtime nickname, similar to the way the University of Mississippi is promoted as Ole Miss.”

And Cooper says naming the school Reneau University means losing that “W.” But President Limbert says the new name will increase enrollment – and thus revenue – for the struggling school.

“I think it’s important to not confuse nostalgia with, um, the reality of today’s world. And we, we love our history, we love the past, this has been a wonderful institution, but we need to move it on.”

The new name honors Sallie Reneau, who first pushed the legislature to open a state college for women in the 1850s. The final choice was between Reneau and Waverley University after Eudora Welty’s family declined to have the famous author’s name included in the possibilities.

Many alums are on board with the name change – the school has been coed since the 1980s. And the Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning also seems likely to approve it.

IHL President Hank Bounds and Scott Ross, the president of the IHL Board, both spoke at MUW Monday in support of the name change and said it could increase enrollment.

However, the legislature must also certify the change, and alums like Cheryl Cooper say they will be pushing for a fight come January.

For MPB News, I’m Cari Gervin.