Liberal Racism
2016-08-18 07:55:31 UTC
Vanderbilt University announced Monday that it will delete the
word Confederate from the stone pediment at the entrance to a
student dormitory known as Memorial Hall, becoming the latest in
a wave of schools to alter how their campuses display words and
images associated with the southern cause in the Civil War.
To make the change, the private university in Nashville was
required under the terms of a 2005 court ruling to pay $1.2
million to the Tennessee division of the United Daughters of the
Confederacy. That sum represents the present value of a $50,000
donation the organization made in 1933 for the buildings
construction and naming rights.
Vanderbilt officials said gifts from anonymous donors will cover
the expense of returning the donation.
Nicholas S. Zeppos, chancellor of Vanderbilt, said he and others
at the school have long sought to remove the word Confederate
from the inscription Confederate Memorial Hall atop the
columned entrance of the 80-bed freshman dormitory. School
officials believed that the stone-etched name honoring rebels
who fought in the 19th century for a secessionist movement that
supported slavery was out of step with the image of
inclusiveness that Vanderbilt wanted to show the world in the
21st century.
Its been a source of controversy, contention and disagreement
and various debates over the decades, Zeppos said. The
question would always come back to, how can we be an inclusive,
diverse environment, where everyone feels included, and everyone
understands the importance of diversity, with this hall so
named?
Many other schools in recent years have grappled with what to do
with the racially divisive Confederate imagery that adorns their
campuses. The movement took on fresh urgency following the fatal
shootings in June 2015 of African American parishioners at a
historic black church in Charleston, S.C., by a white man with
links to a racist manifesto.
The University of Texas, for example, moved a statue of
Confederate President Jefferson Davis from a prominent outdoor
mall on its Austin campus to an indoor historical exhibit. The
University of Mississippi took the state flag down at its campus
because the flag prominently includes a Confederate battle
emblem. The College of William and Mary took down a plaque
honoring rebel soldiers inside its iconic Wren Building.
Yale University continues to debate the name of Calhoun College,
a residential unit on campus named for an ardent pro-slavery
politician from the antebellum South, John C. Calhoun, who was a
U.S. senator from South Carolina and a vice president. In April,
Yales president, Peter Salovey, said Calhouns name would
remain on the college as part of an effort to encourage the
campus community to confront the history of slavery. But the
decision drew significant criticism. On Aug. 1, Salovey
announced the creation of a committee to establish principles on
renaming. He suggested that the university could reopen the
question of the name of Calhoun College after that committee
does its work.
Vanderbilt, founded in 1873, has about 12,500 students and is
one of the nations most prestigious private universities.
Zeppos said the university plans to cover up temporarily the
word Confederate and then, at a later point, install a new
pediment that renders the buildings name as Memorial Hall. He
said the temporary fix will be in place before freshmen move in
on Saturday.
Zeppos, who has been at Vanderbilt since 1987, said the word
confederate evokes slavery, Jim Crow laws, racial segregation
and the Civil War. It was just not the inclusive symbol that we
really want Vanderbilt to have, he said.
But he acknowledged that the matter remains a subject of dispute
on and off campus.
As long as this has been debated, there has been disagreement
about changing the name, he said. Some people think its wrong
to take that [word] off. Some people from certain perspectives
think it should be left there as a reminder of our history, and
the history of slavery. Ive heard every possible viewpoint and
argument very passionate views.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-
point/wp/2016/08/15/vanderbilt-university-removes-confederate-
from-inscription-at-front-of-dorm/
word Confederate from the stone pediment at the entrance to a
student dormitory known as Memorial Hall, becoming the latest in
a wave of schools to alter how their campuses display words and
images associated with the southern cause in the Civil War.
To make the change, the private university in Nashville was
required under the terms of a 2005 court ruling to pay $1.2
million to the Tennessee division of the United Daughters of the
Confederacy. That sum represents the present value of a $50,000
donation the organization made in 1933 for the buildings
construction and naming rights.
Vanderbilt officials said gifts from anonymous donors will cover
the expense of returning the donation.
Nicholas S. Zeppos, chancellor of Vanderbilt, said he and others
at the school have long sought to remove the word Confederate
from the inscription Confederate Memorial Hall atop the
columned entrance of the 80-bed freshman dormitory. School
officials believed that the stone-etched name honoring rebels
who fought in the 19th century for a secessionist movement that
supported slavery was out of step with the image of
inclusiveness that Vanderbilt wanted to show the world in the
21st century.
Its been a source of controversy, contention and disagreement
and various debates over the decades, Zeppos said. The
question would always come back to, how can we be an inclusive,
diverse environment, where everyone feels included, and everyone
understands the importance of diversity, with this hall so
named?
Many other schools in recent years have grappled with what to do
with the racially divisive Confederate imagery that adorns their
campuses. The movement took on fresh urgency following the fatal
shootings in June 2015 of African American parishioners at a
historic black church in Charleston, S.C., by a white man with
links to a racist manifesto.
The University of Texas, for example, moved a statue of
Confederate President Jefferson Davis from a prominent outdoor
mall on its Austin campus to an indoor historical exhibit. The
University of Mississippi took the state flag down at its campus
because the flag prominently includes a Confederate battle
emblem. The College of William and Mary took down a plaque
honoring rebel soldiers inside its iconic Wren Building.
Yale University continues to debate the name of Calhoun College,
a residential unit on campus named for an ardent pro-slavery
politician from the antebellum South, John C. Calhoun, who was a
U.S. senator from South Carolina and a vice president. In April,
Yales president, Peter Salovey, said Calhouns name would
remain on the college as part of an effort to encourage the
campus community to confront the history of slavery. But the
decision drew significant criticism. On Aug. 1, Salovey
announced the creation of a committee to establish principles on
renaming. He suggested that the university could reopen the
question of the name of Calhoun College after that committee
does its work.
Vanderbilt, founded in 1873, has about 12,500 students and is
one of the nations most prestigious private universities.
Zeppos said the university plans to cover up temporarily the
word Confederate and then, at a later point, install a new
pediment that renders the buildings name as Memorial Hall. He
said the temporary fix will be in place before freshmen move in
on Saturday.
Zeppos, who has been at Vanderbilt since 1987, said the word
confederate evokes slavery, Jim Crow laws, racial segregation
and the Civil War. It was just not the inclusive symbol that we
really want Vanderbilt to have, he said.
But he acknowledged that the matter remains a subject of dispute
on and off campus.
As long as this has been debated, there has been disagreement
about changing the name, he said. Some people think its wrong
to take that [word] off. Some people from certain perspectives
think it should be left there as a reminder of our history, and
the history of slavery. Ive heard every possible viewpoint and
argument very passionate views.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-
point/wp/2016/08/15/vanderbilt-university-removes-confederate-
from-inscription-at-front-of-dorm/