As campus protests have heated up, universities have caved on changing building names. For the University of California at Berkeley, they’re taking the re-examination to the extreme.
Senior administrators will make a “comprehensive assessment” of campus building names, the Daily Californian reported. In this case, “comprehensive” means all building names.
This process of “just looking” will amount to examining 150 buildings.
“Once it’s complete, (campus administrators) will engage students … (in a) discussion of opinions and ideas of the future,” Campus Spokesperson Dan Mogulof said.
The Black Student Union (BSU) at Berkeley demanded that Barrows Hall, named after former UC Berkeley president David Prescott Barrows, be renamed. According to BSU in the Daily Californian:
Whom do the students want the building named after? Someone not much better. Assata Shakur, described as a “black activist,” did not hold a title such as former UC Berkeley president, but someone who fled to Cuba. Shakur, a former member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Party, sought political asylum after escaping prison. She is on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, described as a “domestic terrorist.”
Regardless of Barrows’ legacy, naming the building after a cop killer isn’t any better. It’s offensive to another group of students. The university isn’t helping much with their reaction to student demands.
