TOW #18 - Yale Renames Calhoun College

                After many debates and protests, Yale University announced on February 11^th that they would be overturning last April’s decision and renaming one of its residential colleges, Calhoun College. The building was originally named after the infamous John C. Calhoun, a white supremacist and major supporter of slavery. The fight to rename the college was first proposed after nine people were killed in Charleston, SC, but last April, the school decide that keeping the name would teach the students about the ‘most troubled aspects of our past’. The decision to finally agree to the change was fueled by the many student protesters who felt that the name supported in keeping a racists legacy alive. Starting in the fall of 2017, the building will now be named after alumni Grace Murray Hopper, she invented a pioneering computer programming language and served as a Navy rear admiral.  Hopper was picked because she was the most frequently requested Yale graduate by the staff and students.

                I don’t really understand Yale’s initial claim to keeping the college named after Calhoun. Their argument that it reminds the students of the country’s tragic past doesn’t really make sense considering the fact that having a building named after someone is generally considered a way to commemorate someone’s memory in a positive way. If the school really wanted to use Calhoun’s name to remind the students of the horrific past, then they should’ve characterized Calhoun in more negative light instead of giving him the honor of having his name on a building.

                The students’ argument that the building keeps his name alive is one hundred percent correct. The whole point of naming something after someone is to keep their memory alive. If a someone didn’t know the history surrounding Calhoun but they knew the building was named after him, they would most likely assume that he did something worthy of having a building named after him. Personally, I can’t wait to see a fascist-fighting, program major, woman to be finally recognized for her achievements, hopefully her legacy will be an inspiration to many young girls interested in pursuing male heavy professions.