Via Campus Reform:
Following the mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, many universities have raised concerns over statues, street names, and building names that honor Confederate figures.
Advocates for changing the names of these buildings and streets are now petitioning Yale University to find a new name for its residential Calhoun College. The college honors John C. Calhoun, a slave plantation supporter, U.S. senator from South Carolina, Vice President of the United States under President John Quincy Adams, and an 1804 alumnus of Yale. The petition claims that the name Calhoun is insensitive to the pain and suffering of the black population.
“[W]e’re dealing with a symbol and we’re not dealing with the root cause. And the root cause is systemic racism.” Tweet This
The petition has received 1332 signatures from current students and alumni as of today.
“The tragedy in Charleston, on top of countless preceding tragedies in our country’s history, has elevated public opinion and discourse on difficult subjects that have too long been avoided,” university spokeswoman Karen Peart told the Elko Daily Free Press. […]
When asked for her opinion on the matter by Campus Reform, Julie Slama, a sophomore global affairs student at Yale, said that, “[m]any people seem to overlook the fact that John C. Calhoun was a two-term vice president, secretary of state, secretary of war, and was a key in the annexation of Texas.”
“Yes, he supported slavery, yet many of our founding fathers did, as well. The man graduated from Yale and has a list of achievements longer than many of the other residential college namesakes,” she said.