June 19, 2014

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The Chronicle T h e i n d e p e n d e n t d a i ly at D u k e U n i v e r s i t y

xxxxxday, JUNE THURSDAY, mmmm 19,xx, 2014 2013

www.dukechronicle.com

ONE ONE HUNDRED HUNDRED AND AND EIGHTH TENTHYEAR, YEAR,Issue Issuexxx S6

Aycock renamed following student leaders’ call for action by Emma Baccellieri The Chronicle

Freshman dormitory Aycock will be renamed East Residence Hall, following years of protest over the building’s namesake—former North Carolina governor Charles Aycock, a prominent figure in the white supremacy movement in the early 1900s. President Richard Brodhead announced the decision in a letter to student leaders Tuesday. The change was agreed on by the Board of Trustees’ executive committee at a meeting last Friday and comes six months after Duke Student Government passed a resolution supporting the renaming of the dormitory. Representatives from DSG and the Black Student Alliance met with members of the administration to present a formal proposal for the name change. “The building was named early in the twentieth century on one view of history, and that view of history no longer prevails,” Brodhead said. “Given the circumstances, it seems a good time to change the name.” East Residence Hall was the original name of the dormitory, which opened in 1911 when Duke University was still Trinity College. One year later, however, the Board of Trustees decided to change the name to Aycock to honor the former governor, who was in office from 1901-1905. Aycock had no clear ties to Trinity College, Brodhead noted—he was never a student or employee, and he did not ever donate to the institution. The decision to name the building after Aycock is touched upon only briefly in the minutes of the Board of Trustees’ September 1912 meeting, and no explanation is given for the choice. “The committee appointed for renaming the new buildings reported as follows: that the East Dormitory be named ‘Aycock Hall,’ in honor of ex-governor Charles Brantley Aycock,” the minutes read, as found in the University Archive. Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for government relations and See aycock, page 8

Darbi Griffith/The Chronicle


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June 19, 2014 by Duke Chronicle - Issuu