I’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that Yale University has not changed its name and never will, even though Elihu Yale was directly involved in the slave trade. Yale gets a pass because it’s a billion dollar brand and an institution of the privileged.
The College Fix reports:
Washington and Lee University may scrap its name next month after years of protestWashington and Lee University’s renaming controversy has hit a fevered pitch as its Board of Trustees is scheduled to decide the matter in June.Factions for and against the renaming issue are doing battle and tempers are running high, as evidenced by name-calling and banners being torn down, among other actions.There’s “two highly motivated groups … on either side of the issue, each with their own vision for change and the infrastructure necessary to effectively advance their goals,” said student Dennis Hull, editor-in-chief of the Washington & Lee Spectator student newspaper.“Both sides of this debate are admirably passionate about their goals … yet those opposed to a name change have consistently advocated civility, respectful discourse, and a calm approach to the discussion,” he told The College Fix.Hull cited a column on the situation titled “A Plea for Civility,” noting how several comments slam the piece as “scream[ing] privilege,” “tokenism,” “a garbage piece of writing,” and “thoughtless centrism.”The controversy over the school’s name has been ongoing for several years but ramped up in June 2020 with a petition calling for Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s name to be removed from the school’s moniker, with one faculty member saying its presence is an indicator of “an association and an allegiance with a dark past.”While President William Dudley urged students in a May 17 email, obtained by The College Fix, to “be kind and generous to each other, and empathetic with those whose experiences and reactions differ from our own,” Hull pointed to reactions among the student body, indicating how “Those in favor of a name change … often went on the offensive against advocates of civility – even those who weren’t defending a position on the name.”
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