We’ll concede that this exists on campus. So let’s move on from defining what exactly it is. Which I believe I previously asked.
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Do these issues only matter if at least half of a school’s population cares? That would put marginalized groups who might be disparately impacted in a difficult situation, wouldn’t it?
You aren’t referring to Wallis Hall at Auburn?
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I deleted a number of posts which were off topic. Please try and stay within the parameters of the thread, and not start going off with arguments about topics that are only tangentially related to the thread (or not at all).
The thread is for posters to express their opinions on actions to take, or not to take, about the names of colleges which were names after a person who was, as the OP put it, a “bad actor”.
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Here is a Stanford Daily article about the student vote in 1975 for the mascot where Robber Barons was the leader among several proposed mascots.
https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1975/12/05?page=1
Any NCAA school that has a mascot that could be considered disrespectful or racist has to have the permission of the minority to continue with it. The Seminole tribes gave permission. The Sioux nations did not, so North Dakota had to give up The Fighting Sioux (I think it was 5 of the 7 tribes voted to allow it to continue but two did not). Most schools have changed mascots or nicknames long ago (Umass Redmen became Minutemen, Stanford dropped Indians for Cardinals). We have a high school here nicknamed the Warriors, and they work closely with the Arapaho nation to incorporate respect and culture into the school (although I doubt there are many Arapaho at the school).
Look how long it has taken some professional teams to give up their names and mascots. Cleveland Indians just changed. Washington Redskins just changed. Atlanta is still clinging to Braves and the tomahawk chop (still remember Jane Fonda doing it when she and Ted owned the team)
A public high school recently did basically that, changing its name from Washington-Lee High school to Washington-Liberty High School.
However, the name Washington and Liberty University might have unintended marketing effects due to similarity to Liberty University.
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The W&L board could easily solve the problem of honoring a racist and traitorous leader by changing to Washington & Lincoln or just W&L University - there are hundreds of appropriate “L” names and words they could choose.
The board appears to lack the moral courage or lacks an understanding of the real legacy of Lee. Hence, 74 black students have enrolled in 2022 in a state with a 20% black population.
The simplest explanation is that the board likes things this way.
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Let me say that I would support a name change for the school.
But sometimes people pick a statistic and hold W&L up like it is an extreme outlier. While a 4% Black student population is nothing to brag about, it is not far off from the University of Virginia’s 6% Black student population. Arguably, UVA, being the state flagship, should be closer to the State’s 20%Black population.
A strong case can be made, but not by picking statistics that are not hugely different from other similar schools.
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It is interesting how some people affiliated with a school with a racist name ignore any statistic that questions their belief that “all is good”! (not directed any poster, just an observation)
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Reminder to stay on topic.
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Writing “on topic” in a post does not make it so.
Users who specifically want to express their PoV on Washington & Lee to the wxclusion of other cilleged may be better served on this thread:
with the caveat that moderators will firmly enforce rules on that thread.
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Those bothered by names obviously can choose not to attend universities, or live in cities or states, or work for companies, which bear those names. For most there are other issues more important.
Many schools have names not particularly accurate of their present reality. SMU is most definitely not Methodist in any way anymore. Trinity U in Texas was named after the nearby river, not the Holy Trinity, and never affiliated with the Catholic Church, though many assume it is.
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Honestly FSU’s Seminole mascot just makes me uncomfortable whether they have an agreement with the tribe or not. Just doesn’t seem right, but I’m sure the tribe gets a lot of money from FSU.
Doesn’t bother me if historic Indian or Tribal Colleges and Universities, like UNC-Pembroke use Indian mascots, of course, but it’s a very small percentage of kids who go to FSU who have native roots.
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Well, that’s the point – for some colleges, those names have a negative marketing effect that the college may have to spend a lot of money to overcome (e.g. offering more full ride scholarships than it otherwise would need to), and/or accept that its potential applicant and matriculant pools are smaller than otherwise. The college has to consider whether the reasons for keeping the name outweigh the costs associated with keeping the name.
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If it matters to them. I am pretty sure not one in a thousand applicants to Princeton know or care anything about Prince William of Orange and Nassau. I doubt one in a hundred students actually enrolled there do either. Should they?