The Office of the President - Exploring What’s in a Name

A group of student activists has organized on campus to address the adverse conditions for students of color, specifically their experience with a hostile campus climate. The group has spent several months researching the institution’s history of white supremacy and lineages to chattel slavery and the abhorrent policies of the Jim Crow era in Oregon. The students request time with the university president to share concerns about the namesakes of several campus facilities and their connection to white supremacists and histories of racism.

The buildings identified are central campus facilities, with long histories at the institution. The division on campus about the students’ call for the renaming of academic, administrative and athletic buildings is immediate and tense. The President convenes his direct reports, other key administrators and campus leaders to organize and deliberate a path forward. The assembled team determines dialogue to be an essential practice toward resolution.

A subgroup of faculty, administrators and student activists organize a systematic and scholarly review of the building histories and namesakes, and then arrange for an open-facilitated dialogue for all stakeholders of the campus and surrounding community.

The dialogue process spans several months and included dozens of hours of community dialogue. The president and his assembled team review the diverse contributions of community stakeholders elicited through dialogue and assert their decision to rename campus buildings. The President cites alignment with institutional values and commitment to inclusive excellence as the fundamental influence in declaring a formal renaming of campus facilities.