Mobile site. LeConte Hall and Barrows Hall will be renamed because their former namesakes advocated white supremacy. The name “LeConte” also has been removed from other buildings throughout the state. Sweden took pride in its light-touch approach to the pandemic. Fewer high school graduates enrolled in college this fall amid COVID-19 pandemic, study shows. A proposal was submitted in July 2020 to rename LeConte Hall on … They recommended that the school ensure that the namesakes’ histories, including what led to their names’ removal, won’t be forgotten. The hall is for now, simply known as the Law Building. 18.11.2020 - Chancellor Carol Christ shared this message with the campus community Wednesday: I am writing to share good news: Our requests to unname LeConte Hall and Barrows Hall have been approved by University of California President Michael Drake. The Berkeley Unified School District developed a detailed, systematic renaming process a few years ago, partly in response to the name-change controversies sweeping the nation. As an independent student newspaper and the paper of record for the city of Berkeley, the Daily Cal has been communicating important updates during this pandemic. But the Building Name Review Committee said the removal of the halls’ names should not equate to erasure. In 2006, the UC Berkeley campus completed a US$30.7 million renovation project, designed to update the LeConte Hall facilities as well as to provide seismic retrofitting. did. While the number of high school graduates remained stable in 2020, fewer students went on to college than before, with graduates of high-poverty, low-income and urban schools the most severely affected. We're an independent, student-run newsroom. All rights reserved. … Barrows Hall is … Joseph was a professor of natural science and geology and served as president of the American Assn. There’s no doubt a Black woman should replace Kamala Harris in the U.S. Senate. They came from a slaveholding family in Georgia. Use desktop site by default. According to Vera, the next step in the renaming process is submitting potential names to the campus Naming Advisory Task Force. The namesake for Barrows Hall was former University of California president David Prescott Barrows, who the school says held “deeply racist views” and supported white supremacy. The renaming of LeConte Hall is a small step towards remediating the damage done by the University of California system to Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC). Renaming is a separate process from unnaming the buildings and that process is being developed, university officials said. The names of … The renaming of LeConte Hall seems almost a foregone conclusion; the faculty of the Department of Physics already overwhelmingly voted in favor of removing the name in mid-June. “Both men made important academic contributions, but this does not undo or offset the harm done by their racism,” said UC Berkeley physics professor Frances Hellman, dean of the Division of Mathematical and Physical Science. The 12-member committee of students, faculty and staff members unanimously approved dropping the names. Burroughs Hall is named after David Prescott … According to Afroilan, expanding funding for ethnic studies, gender and women’s studies, queer studies and creating a Filipinx studies major, among other things, would be major next steps to increasing inclusivity and awareness of racial issues. “Having to walk through and sit in this building every day which honored this man who would not have wanted me here in the first place, this work was an act of resistance, of reclaiming a campus.”. But blows to the volleyball star’s head changed the course of her life. For example, according to Barrios, campus budget cuts have reduced enrollment in Filipinx language classes. Together, these two buildings — Old LeConte and New LeConte — are often simply called LeConte Hall. John was a professor of physics and chemistry who served as the university’s first acting president from 1869 to 1870 and again for five years beginning in 1875. BERKELEY — UC Berkeley removed the names of two halls on campus Wednesday after concerns about the namesakes’ troubled past, including ties to slavery and racism. Here is how officials plan to handle the first wave of vaccinations. The renaming of LeConte Hall seems almost a foregone conclusion; the faculty of the Department of Physics already overwhelmingly voted in favor of removing the name in mid-June. Until new names are chosen, the former LeConte Hall will be called Physics South (Old LeConte Hall) and Physics North (New LeConte Hall) and the former Barrows Hall will be called the Social Sciences Building. Old LeConte Hall and New LeConte Hall, as well as Barrows Hall, will now be temporarily known as Physics South, Physics North and the Social Sciences Building, respectively. The Pandemic’s Toll: Lives Lost in California, COVID-19 hit Latinos hard. “The unnaming of these buildings was absolutely the right decision,” Abalos said in the email. “The real next steps need to move from symbolic victories and toward tangible victories against structural white supremacy.”. UC Berkeley faculty and students, both current and former, expressed a sense of measured celebration in response to the decision. LeConte Hall, a two-building facility that has been unnamed, is home to the Department of Physics. Until new names are chosen, the former LeConte Hall will be called Physics South (Old LeConte Hall) and Physics North (New LeConte Hall) and the former Barrows Hall will be called the Social Sciences Building. California could have a Black and Latino senator — if Feinstein retires. Hellman said the brothers disgraced science by allowing dangerous ideologies to become enmeshed with their work. Now it’s reconsidering. According to the university, the LeConte brothers, John and Joseph, were slave owners who inherited their family’s Georgia plantation, which had 200 enslaved people. Similarly, Joseph LeConte’s name was removed from a lodge in Yosemite National Park in 2015 and from an elementary school in 2017. Your support is essential to maintaining this coverage. Privacy Policy. UC Berkeley’s Barrows Hall and LeConte Hall unnamed Sunny Shen/Senior StaffAfter years of student advocacy, UC Berkeley’s Barrows Hall and LeConte Hall will be unnamed due to their namesakes’ racist histories, campus officials announced today. Here’s how California plans to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine in coming weeks. This university has a long tradition of serving citizens of California and the world, offering equitable education, access to all, and opportunities that transcend race or class. 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