University of Richmond Renames Six Buildings over Former Namesakes’ Ties to Slavery and Eugenics

The University of Richmond is renaming six buildings and instituting naming guidelines after the Board of Trustees approved the work of the recently concluded naming commission.

“We recognize that not all members of our community will agree with these decisions,” President Kevin Hallock and the Board said in a Monday message to the community. And we recognize that the University would not exist today without the efforts of some whose names we have removed. The Board’s decision to adopt the principles and remove building names, while ultimately unanimous, was extremely challenging. Members of the Board began this process with strongly held differences of opinion, and the subsequent discussions were candid, thoughtful, and constructive. In the end, the Board concluded that the decisions outlined above are the best course of action for the University.”

In February 2021, former President Ronald Crutcher and the board announced that the school would not remove the names of founding President Robert Ryland, who enslaved people, and former University of Richmond Rector Douglas Southall Freeman, who promoted segregation and supported eugenics. That led to protests from students, who had initiated a 2019 request to rename the buildings.

“I firmly 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,” Crutcher wrote in February 2021.

Since then, the Board created the Naming Principles Commission to review naming issues and hold surveys, listening sessions, and other community outreach opportunities. Crutcher resigned in 2022, announced in September 2020.

On March 25, the Naming Principles Commission issued its final recommendations for principles, including that no building, program or professorship should be named for someone who directly engaged in trafficking or enslavement of people or advocated for enslavement. Additionally, individuals can be disqualified for naming honors if they are found to be engaged in significant wrongdoing that is a serious violation of the school’s mission, or damages the school’s reputation…. (Excerpt from Virginia Star)