USC trustees to consider renaming campus buildings this week, board chair says
The University of South Carolina’s board of trustees will consider this week whether to rename buildings on campus, the school’s board of trustees chair said Monday.
John Von Lehe did not specify which buildings might be renamed, but said it is on the agenda for a Friday board of trustees meeting. Two online petitions are calling on the school to rename the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center and Sims at Women’s Quad.
Thurmond was an ardent supporter of segregation in the 1940s and 1950s, and J. Marion Sims, considered the father of modern gynecology, conducted medical experiments on slaves.
The calls to rename the two buildings — an online petition to rename the fitness center has more than 12,000 signatures — comes amid nationwide outrage following the killing of George Floyd and other African Americans by either law enforcement or white civilians.
USC President Robert Caslen, noting that many on social media have called for renaming the buildings, invited students, faculty and staff in a June 8 letter to have “open, honest dialogue” with him about the “harmful impact of racism in our country” at public and pro-diversity events such as the Dive-In Lunches and Welcome Table SC.
Caslen said his first official move as president was establishing the Presidential Commission on University History, which was “established to study and better understand the histories of the people whose names adorn our buildings, and – more broadly — to capture the voices and contributions of forgotten, excluded, or marginalized groups and individuals who positively contributed to the establishment, maintenance, and growth of our university.”
Clemson University has already taken a step in this direction. Clemson’s board of trustees unanimously removed the name of John C. Calhoun, a former vice president and slave owner, from the school’s honors program. The Clemson board also asked lawmakers to change the name of Tillman Hall, a campus landmark.
Under the Heritage Act, only the state legislature can change the names of public buildings, meaning that if colleges want to rename their buildings, the legislature must approve it.
Read more here: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/education/article243548197.html?#storylink=cpy
The University of South Carolina’s board of trustees will consider this week whether to rename buildings on campus, the school’s board of trustees chair said Monday.
John Von Lehe did not specify which buildings might be renamed, but said it is on the agenda for a Friday board of trustees meeting. Two online petitions are calling on the school to rename the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center and Sims at Women’s Quad.
Thurmond was an ardent supporter of segregation in the 1940s and 1950s, and J. Marion Sims, considered the father of modern gynecology, conducted medical experiments on slaves.
The calls to rename the two buildings — an online petition to rename the fitness center has more than 12,000 signatures — comes amid nationwide outrage following the killing of George Floyd and other African Americans by either law enforcement or white civilians.
USC President Robert Caslen, noting that many on social media have called for renaming the buildings, invited students, faculty and staff in a June 8 letter to have “open, honest dialogue” with him about the “harmful impact of racism in our country” at public and pro-diversity events such as the Dive-In Lunches and Welcome Table SC.
Caslen said his first official move as president was establishing the Presidential Commission on University History, which was “established to study and better understand the histories of the people whose names adorn our buildings, and – more broadly — to capture the voices and contributions of forgotten, excluded, or marginalized groups and individuals who positively contributed to the establishment, maintenance, and growth of our university.”
Clemson University has already taken a step in this direction. Clemson’s board of trustees unanimously removed the name of John C. Calhoun, a former vice president and slave owner, from the school’s honors program. The Clemson board also asked lawmakers to change the name of Tillman Hall, a campus landmark.
Under the Heritage Act, only the state legislature can change the names of public buildings, meaning that if colleges want to rename their buildings, the legislature must approve it.
Read more here: https://www.thestate.com/news/local/education/article243548197.html?#storylink=cpy
