Like many colleges and universities, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has revisited the ways their campus has honored racist figures. The school has decided to rename a residence hall and student affairs office that have been named after people with white supremacist ties, reported The Associated Press.
Their residence hall was named after Charles B. Ayock, a UNC alumnus and North Carolina governor who supported violence against Black voters and their white allies. The student affairs office was named after Julian Carr, a self-proclaimed KKK member who endorsed the Democratic Party’s campaign in 1898 to strip Black men of their right to vote.
Now, these buildings will be renamed to honor the very people who integrated the campus.
More from UNC-Chapel Hill:
We have another important celebration on campus this week. Tomorrow, we celebrate the naming of two buildings in honor of groundbreaking heroes in Carolina’s history: Hortense McClinton, the first African-American faculty member, and Henry Owl, the first American Indian and the first person of color to enroll at our University. They were game changers on our campus and they are a shining example of resilience and perseverance in our community. As we announced last fall, they broke down barriers and paved the way for the many who came after them, making Carolina the more diverse place it is today.
The school acknowledged the History, Race and a Way Forward Commission, Board of Trustees and Naming Committee for coming together for the process. Other schools have also taken initiative to address their racist past or student spaces named after racist people.
Emory University announced renaming their campus spaces who were named after Robert Yerkes, a eugenics enthusiast and slavery supporter. The George Washington University renamed the Cloyd Heck Marvin Center, named after a previous university president who supported segregation. Pennsylvania State University also dedicated a building to Shirley M. Malcom, the school’s only Black woman faculty member and highly rewarded leader in STEM.