"Yale Defies Calls to Rename Calhoun College" By Lisl Wangermann Period 1

Noah Remnick's article "Yale Defies Calls to Rename Calhoun College" was published by the New York Times on April 27, 2016. Recently, Yale University students have been protesting for the renaming of Calhoun College, which commemorates John C. Calhoun, a white supremacist who was a strong defender of slavery leading up to the Civil War. He also urged South Carolina to secede from the Union. Today, however, the president of Yale announced that he would not change the name of the college, despite its disturbing namesake. He then followed up by announcing that Yale would be naming its next two residential colleges after African-Americans and women. To many, this does not make up for Calhoun College. Princeton University has also been struggling with the issue. President Woodrow Wilson, who was the president of the university for many years, was also racist. On campus, there are multiple buildings and facilities named after him, which many students find troubling.

There is a fine line between honoring this nation's history and glorifying racists, and it has become a matter of controversy within the past few years. For example, just this past summer, there was controversy over the Confederate flag and whether it should be allowed in public place or be sold in stores like Walmart. For some, it is just a part of history, but for the majority of people, it symbolizes racism and slavery. I believe that Yale should change the name of Calhoun College because its name has strong ties to slavery which should not be tolerated. Racism is still a huge issue in this country and honoring people who supported it is part of the problem.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/nyregion/yale-defies-calls-to-rename-calhoun-college.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news