I have struggled putting my thoughts into words because I have so much emotion surrounding this topic. Let me start out by saying that I understand that the donors and board give millions of dollars to the university every year and help it function. But when it comes to issues of racial inequality, I struggle to find any sympathy for people who put money over people’s emotions and social justice.

Douglas S. Freeman was a man who supported segregated schools and the Confederacy. So UR claims they are making efforts to strive for more diversity, equity, and inclusion, but they can’t take Freeman’s name off of a building. They care more about the money than what Freeman’s name represents. On top of that, I find it extremely disrespectful to put Mitchell’s name next to his. The horrible things that Freeman stood for are not fixed or healed by this. Mitchell’s legacy is not honored when his name is next to his perpetrator. It is just a constant reminder that people like Freeman will continue to be honored and celebrated. It’s decisions like these that have gotten us to where we are today, and why we are barely seeing any change in our country.

What if this was in Germany and there was a building named after Hitler. Now I am not saying that Freeman organized a mass genocide that killed millions of people. But the same concept still applies. If we put Hitler’s name and a Holocaust survivor’s name on the same building, does that honor the Holocaust survivor’s life and legacy? Is that showing that our current values go against Hitler’s, or are we celebrating his name because we are too scared to take it down if we lose money from it? These are just some of the things that are going through my head as I saw the University’s decision on the buildings. And the fact that Ryland Hall will not be changed at all, Ryland who actually owned slaves, just shows how poor of an effort this was. I find it incredibly sad and disheartening that this is supposedly the best the University could do.