Brown U. Faculty Votes to Recognize ‘Indigenous People’s Day’

On Brown University’s 2015-16 academic calendar, Columbus Day does not appear. The day in October when classes aren’t held is called the Fall Weekend holiday. Starting next autumn, though, the day will bear a new name: Indigenous People’s Day.

Faculty members at their monthly meeting on Tuesday approved a student-led effort to rename the campus holiday, The Brown Daily Herald reports.

Members of the group Native Americans at Brown, among other student organizations, gathered before the vote with signs reading “250+ years of occupying indigenous land,” “Native Americans discovered Columbus,” “We don’t celebrate genocide,” and “#Changethename.”

The group’s demonstrations last fall led to the campus discussion. The movement gained the support of the provost, Richard Locke, who has worked to create a program in Native American and indigenous studies at the university.