• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Cancel culture & Wingate Hall

siff

Scott "Rufio" Feather
Joined
Mar 15, 2011
Messages
18,621
Reaction score
707
Location
The Duchy of Cabarrus
I love it.

Dear Wake Forest community,

One of the greatest strengths of higher education is that it is dynamic. It changes. What is a fundamental principle today was a revelatory thought for past generations. Education invites all into an ongoing journey of discovery. The exploration of our past has prompted greater insight and richer understanding, and by engaging our history, we reaffirm the power of education to help broaden our empathy for all human beings.

At Wake Forest, we are passionate about seeking knowledge and pursuing truth. The calling of Pro Humanitate is to use that knowledge and truth to better the lives and communities around us. Today, that community is our own.

CONSIDERING OUR HISTORY

Last summer, I shared with you the creation of the Advisory Committee on Naming, co-chaired by Trustee Donna Boswell and Dean Jonathan Lee Walton. The committee’s charge was to establish guiding principles, conduct historical research and consider meaningful ways to contextualize, remember and honor individuals throughout Wake Forest’s story. Committee members, Trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, students and alumni came together to research and engage in a series of Call to Conversation events to determine how we can expand the narrative of the University. Building on the work of the Slavery, Race and Memory Project, these efforts have widened our understanding of the context in which Wake Forest was founded and operated from 1834 through 1862.

At the April 2021 Board of Trustees meeting, members of the Advisory Committee on Naming presented findings to the Academic Committee of the Board of Trustees. The Academic Committee explored the research regarding how we acknowledge, remember and honor individuals whose names have been placed on University plaques, memorials and buildings.

During the meeting, the Academic Committee and the Board of Trustees endorsed guiding principles with a goal of creating a more inclusive narrative of our history. In this way, we can determine whether individuals should be honored for their actions or simply remembered. By sharing all we now know and understand of their commitments and context, together we can enlarge a narrative that is inclusive and factual — both challenging and celebratory, heart-breaking and inspiring, painful and healing.

MOVING FORWARD WITH OUR HISTORY

We entered into the exploration of our history with the understanding that discussions about our past would be controversial and potentially polarizing. In April, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to take the actions described below to come to terms with our antebellum heritage. These actions do not address the full story of Wake Forest’s history but are the principal ways that the University intends to address the antebellum period.

We have decided to rename Wingate Hall to “May 7, 1860 Hall,” the date our institution sold at auction 16 human beings that a slave-owning benefactor bequeathed to Wake Forest through his estate. Washington Manly Wingate was the fourth president of Wake Forest University, serving from 1853-1862 and after the Civil War from 1866 until his death in 1879. By renaming this building, we acknowledge the University’s participation in slavery, recognize this aspect of our history and remember those who labored at the institution against their will. We hear their stories, learn their names and honor what they endured for our institution.

While we will change the name of Wingate Hall, we will keep the name of Wait Chapel to underscore the complexity of our story. In leaving the Wait name on the chapel that shares a foundation with the newly named May 7, 1860 Hall, we acknowledge the inherent contradictions that summon our intellect and moral conviction. The complexity and contradictions create a tension that invites engagement with our story and the people whose lives are remembered and honored.

To address this tension, we will launch a process to create a memorial to affirm the humanity and dignity of those previously not remembered or honored in Wake Forest’s antebellum history. It will offer a context for the record of Samuel Wait as the founder of the University who had enslaved persons serving his household. With the information we have, we will expand the story of our founding to accurately and fully reflect the reality of establishing an institution to serve humanity even while actively denying some people their own humanity.

Wake Forest — today as in its history — is an institution that lives in a world where opportunity and achievement are tragically interwoven with injustice and inequity. Against the backdrop of a history that is both storied and deeply flawed, we strive to build a vital community that is welcoming for all. In our motto, Pro Humanitate, we see our great aspiration and acknowledge the imperfection in our efforts. We remain committed to move forward with purpose — seeking knowledge, pursuing truth and affirming the humanity of all.

Later today, I invite you to join our community at Remember with Us: Commemoration of the Enslaved, where we will read the names and remember the lives of the many enslaved people — known and unknown — who were sold by or labored at Wake Forest. After we have heard the names, I will be joined by Trustee leaders to announce the actions outlined above that will help expand the narrative of the University. I also hope you will visit the Expanding the Narrative website that contains the historical research prepared on the principal leaders of the antebellum era and videos featuring Trustee Boswell and Dean Walton, the co-chairs of the Advisory Committee on Naming.

I want to thank all of the members of this community who have helped to create a deeper understanding of our story. I am confident that we will continue to become a place that learns to live more fully and inclusively Pro Humanitate. In doing so, we narrow the gap between the ideals we profess and the lives we lead.

Sincerely,


Nathan O. Hatch
President
 
Did we just turn a dormitory into a Scarlet Letter?
 
Total crap & a sellout by the Trustees! Trying to cancel a long ago past. Is UVa going to cancel Thomas Jefferson for all he did for the state of Virginia, America and the founding of the University of Virginia? I sure hope not.
 
Got to hand it to those slick bastards at UNC. When the namesake of Kenan Stadium came under fire, they conveniently said that the place is now in honor of his son William Jr. Problem solved!
 
Total crap & a sellout by the Trustees! Trying to cancel a long ago past. Is UVa going to cancel Thomas Jefferson for all he did for the state of Virginia, America and the founding of the University of Virginia? I sure hope not.

yes!
 
22df6578d57907ef7068037c1dd4dbea.jpg
 
Seeing people get upset over it makes me happier.
 
My first reaction was that it was right to acknowledge the history but a really silly way to do it. May 7, 1860 Hall? But after a second thought, I like it. Even if you name the building after one of the 16 slaves, after 6 months everyone probably assumes the name on the building is just another donor or former president. With this name, it will probably be asked many times why the building has such a name and, hopefully, many opportunities for people to pause and reflect on the fact that we benefit today from what others suffered for many years ago.
 
Really well done. I like leaving the contradictions and forcing people to confront uncomfortable history. As tim mentions, giving the hall a date will force people to question why and learn more about the history.

-Signed,
History Major, Class of 2003
 
My first reaction was that it was right to acknowledge the history but a really silly way to do it. May 7, 1860 Hall? But after a second thought, I like it. Even if you name the building after one of the 16 slaves, after 6 months everyone probably assumes the name on the building is just another donor or former president. With this name, it will probably be asked many times why the building has such a name and, hopefully, many opportunities for people to pause and reflect on the fact that we benefit today from what others suffered for many years ago.

Yep. Had both thoughts myself. They could have named it after Hatch or done the MSD thing and named it after who donated the most money. But they did the right thing.

I also thought about just how savvy it was that the first Black man they allowed to enroll at Wake had the last name Reynolds. Hard to separate the legacy of Ed Reynolds from that of RJ Reynolds tobacco.
 
My first reaction was that it was right to acknowledge the history but a really silly way to do it. May 7, 1860 Hall? But after a second thought, I like it. Even if you name the building after one of the 16 slaves, after 6 months everyone probably assumes the name on the building is just another donor or former president. With this name, it will probably be asked many times why the building has such a name and, hopefully, many opportunities for people to pause and reflect on the fact that we benefit today from what others suffered for many years ago.

I agree with this thought. The new name is a bit awkward but will cause most people to ask about the name, which is a good thing.

Kids being kids, I wonder what the short form name will be in several years - May? or 1860?

Edit: I'm certain I'm not the only alum who cringes at the thought that a bastard like Wingate was honored by MSD for so many years.
 
Last edited:
Yeah. Hopefully we are moving past the point where we honor people just because they were powerful.
 
I agree with this thought. The new name is a bit awkward but will cause most people to ask about the name, which is a good thing.

Kids being kids, I wonder what the short form name will be in several years - May? or 1860?

Edit: I'm certain I'm not the only alum who cringes at the thought that a bastard like Wingate was honored by MSD for so many years.


May seventh, 1860

Mayse

Mays

Maze

?
 
It’s well intentioned but it also seems like it could be potentially off putting to some of our black students. Are most of them reacting positively to the move?
 
Back
Top