EC Blog Post

Mitchell-Freedman and Ryland need to be renamed. While it was once fitting to have their names on buildings, that time has LONG passed. Why are we so focused on the legacy of these two terrible people? If these building signs and names are actively hurting students, why do we keep them up? If Richmond was actually focused on being a safe environment for its students and listened to what the students wanted, they would not deny our request. They state, and I quote, “At the University of Richmond, we believe diversity, equity, and inclusion are inextricably linked to educational quality for our students … we are deeply engaged in the work of making excellence inclusive; identifying inequities in the experiences and outcomes of students” on their Inclusive Excellence page. I find it quite interesting that the school cannot seem to find the blatant hypocrisy in this. If they truly cared about students being in a safe, inclusive environment and working to “identify inequalities”, they would not stand for this. Celebrate the fact that they donated (or whatever they did for Richmond) on a plaque in the building explaining how they helped, but how we condemn the hateful institution of slavery and cannot allow that legacy to prosper on campus. That way, we are not forcing people to look at, live in, or take classes in buildings that have been dedicated to Ryland and Freedman. While they might lose donors, that cannot be the sole goal of the institution because, while it is a business, first and foremost it is a school. The board does not live or study here so how are their voices on this the only ones that matter?

One thought on “EC Blog Post

  1. Sophia Picozzi

    I really like your idea of the plaque and the explanation of the donor! I think that is a good compromise and can hopefully pacify the Board of Trustees who are unwilling to change the names of the building.

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