In the fall of 2021, an advisory group appointed by the Board of Regents released a list of building names on college campuses across Georgia that it recommended should be changed because they are named after historical figures who have shown prejudice, whether it was racially or religiously motivated.
As a result of the investigation, it was determined that a change of building name is recommended. However, it is now the responsibility of the schools to bring the request of change to the Board of Regents.
VSU has five buildings on campus that were recommended for a change in name, including: Brown Hall, Patterson Hall, Langdale Hall, Lowndes Hall, and Ashley Cinema.
The Board of Regents has decided to ignore the recommendations.
The Spectator has reached out to several people for a comment regarding this issue including President Richard Carvajal, SGA, and the Board of Regents.
While SGA decided not to comment, Dr. Carvajal’s office gave a generic blanket statement that did not give any helpful information.
This is very frustrating for the members of the Spectator who have been reporting on this issue. Wherever we turn, we are hit with road blocks. While some of us understand why the President’s office and SGA have not wanted to give further detail into this topic, it is extremely frustrating.
The question you may have now is: what should VSU do with this information?
Students deserve to be educated on the background information of this issue. VSU claims these histories do not reflect the current values of the university; however, it is not doing what it can to make sure the students know.
In our opinion, they need to openly recognize these issues and come up with a way to fix it.
Since the names will not be changed, something should be done to inform students of the history behind these influential but controversial people, such as adding a historically accurate plaque on each of these buildings.
However, it is not an unreasonable request to change the building names, especially since there are streets around Valdosta that are also getting renamed, for similar reasons.
The Spectator is not oblivious. We know that back when these buildings were first named, the behaviors of these people was acceptable in that time period. We also understand that they were important donors.
However, that is no longer the case and this generation demands change.
This editorial reflects the general opinion of The Spectator.