Posted on 09/19/2002 12:46:56 PM PDT by wardaddy
News
Thursday September 19, 2002
Peobody dorm is gone with the wind
LORI WOOTEN September 18, 2002
A campus debate that has lasted three years and that has invoked timeless racial tensions may soon end, as administrators finalize plans to rename Confederate Memorial Hall.
In its new life, the Peabody dormitory will be called simply Memorial Hall.
Vanderbilt's Student Government Association passed a resolution three years ago to change the name of the facility. The administration finally accepted the proposal in May.
Confederate houses mostly sophomores, said Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Life Steve Caldwell. It has been a part of the area's scenery since 1935, when it was built at Peabody College - then unaffiliated with Vanderbilt - with funds donated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Representatives of the UDC were not immediately available for comment Monday.
After a summer of negotiations and reprinting Vanderbilt brochures and maps, the decision will most likely be finalized by this week, said Vice Chancellor of Public Affairs Michael Schoenfeld.
Several administrators and student leaders have been heavily involved in the process.
Caldwell expressed hope that Vanderbilt students will support the change.
"The word 'Confederate' makes many people uncomfortable," he said. "This is the right thing and it needs to be done."
Many students, however, said they fail to see the problem with the name.
"I understand the reluctance to keep the name 'Confederate' because of its racist connotations, but ... the Confederacy will always be a part of the South's history," said sophomore Freddy Ford.
Although "Confederate" will officially be removed from the title of the dorm, many students said they expect the name to remain for years to come in casual conversation.
"Even if the name is officially changed, it will still be called Confederate, so if they want to make the school look better that's fine," said sophomore Brad Wallace. "But the change will only be superficial, at least until everyone in my class graduates."
Administrators and students said they agree that as Vanderbilt takes steps to become a more diverse and inclusive university, changing the name of Confederate is an important step in the right direction.
"I think it's about time they changed it because it is the 21st century," said freshman Shantell Hinton.
Other proponents of the change argue that the decision shows Vanderbilt's intentions to separate itself from its old Southern conservative image.
"The word 'Confederate' has a racial connotation and racism does still exist," said freshman Sharon Taylor. "This is Nashville and it's about time we changed it. It starts here."
Although some administrators and students said they agree the name needs to be changed, they also said the donation should never be forgotten.
The UDC's initial intent in donating the funds that financed the building was to improve economic and educational problems in the South, Caldwell said.
Female ancestors of Confederate veterans were offered a rent-free stay at the residence hall, he said, provided they studied education and used their talents to better conditions in the South.
The UDC plans to challenge this. It has been hush hush until the local Phil Valentine Show on WLAC AM went public scorning this proposal yesterday. Several leaders of the TN UDC called in planning to challenge this on the legal grounds that the name was binding and not to be changed according to the agreement signed by the University when the dorm was funded. Ironically, the funding came from likely grandaughters of the CSA vets themselves and was intended as an altruistic gesture. Now their altruism is to be undone by the PC idiot brigade that can't handle the truth.
My maternal great grandfather got his teaching degree at then Peabody college back around 1900. For a nice Southern City (the best of the big ones in my partial opinion), Nashville is literally teeming with liberal homegrown do-gooders who simply fall for this self virtue enrichment crap like flies to a cow patty. Disgusting.
Note that the paper's editors can't even spell "Peabody" correctly in the article's headline. All this from a university rated as in the top 25 nationwide by USN&R.....scary.
Would you be kind enough to Dixie Ping this one for me?
You are the man!
"The word 'Confederate' has a racial connotation and racism does still exist," said freshman Sharon Taylor. "This is Nashville and it's about time we changed it."
I think it's about time they stopped admitting females into college. It's the 21st century, after all.
Yet, the word "Hustler" in the student newspaper's name doesn't? The first thing that comes to my mind is Larry Flynt's "enterprise"...
You guys should know better about how to spell.
By the way, your little PC race hustling deal isn't done yet. Thanks to Phil Valentine, you are about to get resistance from many fronts.
Here's one: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/753722/posts
College do-goodery never rests does it? Vanderbilt......supposedly a wonderful school which also has a very public atheist on it's Divinity School payroll.
I really feel sorry for your folks, shilling out top dollars for your PC brainwashing. You'll look back 20 years from now and realize what a fool you were.
Regards
PS: I apologize in advance the fact that my street is named for a Confederate victory. I fear that may offend the lofty sensibilities of your gang.
If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)
Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.
I'm my own grand ma, I married my own grand pa.
Vandy should concentrate more on education rather than pc bull crap. How can one be a Daughter of the Confederacy and an Ancestor of a Confederate veteran at the same time?
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