There is a huge upset among students about the refusal of the University to remove the names Ryland and Freeman from campus buildings. The way we see it, these names should have no place on our campus. To us, the choice seems so obvious– rename the buildings named after old and dead racist white men. To a group of old white men, the choice is not so obvious. The decision to keep a building named after slave owner Robert Ryland, was justified due to the fact that he was Richmond’s first president. It was also justified by the ~Board of Trustees~ as well as President Crutcher because they believe that “removing Ryland’s and Freeman’s names would not compel us to do the hard, necessary, and uncomfortable work of grappling with the University’s ties to slavery and segregation, but would instead lead to further cultural and institutional silence and, ultimately, forgetting” (Richmond Times Dispatch https://richmond.com/news/local/education/the-university-of-richmond-confronts-its-racist-legacy/article_2026f8f5-431f-5959-87de-cc33f91987dc.html). 

I find this justification pretty problematic. Yes, I agree that it is important to recognize the shortcomings of our University, both past and present. However, having the buildings of our campus named after these men does not seem productive to me. By keeping these names on our buildings, it seems we are uplifting a legacy of racism instead of denouncing UR’s racist legacy. It’s like the monuments on Monument Avenue. Did Robert E. Lee really have to be on a literal pedestal in the middle of the city’s most famous street in order to remember Richmond’s past, along with many other segregationist political and social leaders of the confederacy? Looking at the vandalism and deconstruction of monuments on that street today, it seems everybody collectively decided the answer to that is no. It was a huge win for activists when these monuments were finally reconsidered. 

Students, and I’m sure staff, are feeling very disconnected from the decisions of the famous ~Board of Trustees~ consisting of the other portion of rich white men of whom the rest of our buildings are named after. I know this is just how University’s operate because of course they have to consider finances, endowment, and pleasing donors. I do find it kind of sad that the money is used to justify the preservation of racist legacies, but is there anything we can do about that? Or is that just how it has to be? I’m afraid it’s the latter, but I still hope for change and will encourage my peers to keep fighting.