Chapel Hill Renames Building That Honored Ku Klux Klan Leader

Trustees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill voted on Thursday to rename a building that previously honored a 19th-century graduate of the institution who was also a leader of the state chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, The News & Observer reports.

The Board of Trustees voted to rename Saunders Hall, named for William L. Saunders, as Carolina Hall, and to ban any other renaming of buildings for 16 years. The decision followed months of wrangling over the building, which had become the target of protesting students who said the name created an unwelcoming environment for black students.

Colleges across the South have struggled with how to handle building names that honor racists. Duke University and East Carolina University have both voted to rename buildings that previously honored a white-supremacist former governor, Charles B. Aycock, whose name also adorns a building at Chapel Hill.