Posted on 08/11/2020 8:02:02 PM PDT by Uncle Sham
LSU has created a committee to evaluate the names of buildings on campus and decide if any need to be changed because they are “a reminder of a racist and segregated past.”
The 16-member committee is made up of faculty, staff, students and alumni.
In June, the LSU Board of Supervisors voted to remove Troy H. Middleton’s name from the university library. Middleton is a former LSU president who voiced support for segregation in letters. Hours after the vote, Middleton’s name and bust were removed from the building. Troy H. Middleton's name removed from LSU library hours after Board approval Troy H. Middleton's name removed from LSU library hours after Board approval
If the Building Name Evaluation Committee recommends a name change, it will then be evaluated by an existing Naming Committee, followed by Executive Vice President and Provost Stacia Haynie, Interim President Tom Galligan, the Board Academics Committee and the LSU Board of Supervisors.
(Excerpt) Read more at theadvocate.com ...
If they don’t like his legacy, why don’t they burn down the library which he was responsible for building, and re-establish the segregated schools he in the end worked to dismantle?
“Though we did not like it, we accepted Negros as students; therefore, they are permitted to occupy rooms in dormitories and take their meals in University dining halls. We have had a limited number of occupy rooms. At no time has a Negro occupied a room with a white student. We keep them in a given area and do not permit indiscriminate occupancy. Thus far we have had no problem.
Our Negro students have made no attempt to attend social functions, participate in athletic contests, go in the swimming pool, etc. If they did, we would, for example, discontinue the operation of the swimming pool.
Since we have not had a Negro request that he be permitted to participate in athletics, we, of course, have not had to make a decision. If one should apply between now and February 1, 1962, (date for my retirement), I think I could find a good excuse why he would not participate. To be specific—L.S.U. does not favor whites and Negros participating together on athletic teams.
Briscoe Center’s Chancellor’s Office Records, Box 85, Folder “Desegregation 9/1/60-8/31/62.
In April he wrote a sobering report to the Board of Supervisors entitled “LSU and Segregation.”[174] Here he outlined the history of the enrollment of blacks at LSU, which showed how resistant the university had been to such an undertaking. While there were avid segregationists who declared the federal desegregation laws would not be fulfilled, more practical minds could see the futility and extreme expense of having to create duplicate facilities in every area of advanced education, and the process of integration, which had already begun at a slow pace, now became accelerated.[175]
When Middleton reached the university’s mandatory retirement age of 70 in 1959, the Alumni Council adopted a resolution to have the Board of Supervisors waive the age requirement, and allow Middleton to stay on as president. This was done, and again at the end of the 1959–1960 school year he was once again declared to be essential to the university, and once again reluctantly agreed to stay for one, but only one, additional year.[176] Though it became a long year, on 1 February 1962 Middleton officially retired, and three weeks earlier the 11th of January was declared as “Troy H. Middleton Day in Louisiana” by Governor Jimmie H. Davis.[177] LSU classes were suspended, an honor guard from the Cadet Corps was formed, and Secretary of the Army Elvis Stahr came to address the convocation, at which Middleton was given the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.[178]
Retirement and death[edit]
Middleton was a little more than 72 years old when he retired from LSU in 1962. He was now President Emeritus, and maintained an office on campus in the David F. Boyd building.[179] He went to this office every Wednesday morning where a staff secretary handled the typing of a large number of letters in response to his mail.[179]
Grave marker for Middleton and his wife, Baton Rouge National Cemetery
Two years after his retirement, in May 1964, Governor John J. McKeithen came to his office hoping that Middleton would accept a job on a commission that he was forming. The governor was wanting to ease the state’s growing racial tensions by creating a biracial commission composed of 21 blacks and 21 whites. The governor needed a chairman who would command a tremendous amount of respect, and his choice was Middleton. Middleton said he would do it for a year, beginning in 1965, but as had often happened in the past, the year stretched into five, and it wasn’t until 1970 when the commission had reached its goals and was disbanded that Middleton was freed from this duty.[180] Middleton’s black counterpart on the commission was Dr. Albert Dent, president of Dillard University in New Orleans,[181] and the directors chosen to head the staff of this Commission on Human Relations, Rights, and Responsibilities were white attorney John Martzell and black attorney Jesse N. Stone.[180] Some of the potential trouble spots where the commission was able to have a positive effect included the towns of Ferriday and Opelousas, and the commission helped to open the ranks of the Louisiana State Police to qualified blacks.[182] The commission was disbanded in May 1970, after having effectively served its purpose, and the members each received a letter of thanks from the governor.[183]
How about Tigers next? Named after MAJ Roberdeau Wheat’s Louisiana Tigers, Army of Northern Virginia.
Defund ALL universities. Super-expensive indoctrination centers.
They are as obsolete as drive-in-theaters.
Rename everything there after different brands of corn dogs.
For a group that doesn’t want to remember their past, they certainly talk about it a lot.
Many alumni are not happy & have let the Board of Supervisors know if there are name changes, there are no donations to the university.
In the minds of some...buildings and dirt evoke a racist and segregated past.
First rename the Democrat Party. Maybe they can go with BLM: Bankrupt, Loot, and Murder
It needs to be brought before the legislature and explained to LSU that if they are going to insult half of the state that their funding will only come from the half they have chosen to lock arms with. I don't want any of my money financing this charade.
These people are PURPOSELY attempting to destroy the economic impact that LSU has on the state of Louisiana and should all be lined up in front of a wall.
Suck that BLM D-—, Bitch!
The members of the LSU Board of Supervisors may be many things, but the one thing they most clearly are is cowards.
It’s up to the wealthy donors/fans & political players to pressure the legislature & Board. Money talks. Maybe they’ll listen to donations drying up better than they listen to reason!
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