Yale University last week announced that it will rechristen Calhoun College, named after alumnus John C. Calhoun (class of 1804), the famous and powerful statesman from the antebellum period. Yale president Peter Salovey stated, “The decision to change a college’s name is not one we take lightly, but John C. Calhoun’s legacy as a white supremacist and a national leader who passionately promoted slavery as a ‘positive good’ fundamentally conflicts with Yale’s mission and values.”

This decision was greeted with a measure of criticism. Fox News’s Geraldo Rivera resigned as a fellow of the residential college because “intolerant insistence on political correctness is lame.” Roger Kimball of the New Criterion took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to blast the muddled logic behind the decision. After all, Kimball noted, Elihu Yale—the namesake of the university—was himself engaged in the slave trade.