Board of Trustees prepare report on Saunders Hall renaming

Their voices have been heard.

After emphatically calling for the renaming of Saunders Hall, activists can expect an answer soon.

At its March meeting, the UNC Board of Trustees plans to hear an update and discuss the possibility of renaming or contextualizing Saunders Hall.

Earlier this week, activists with The Real Silent Sam Coalition said they felt ignored by the board after their meeting in May 2014. While the board had not updated the public on their progress, trustees have been quietly working on the issue.

“We haven’t dropped the issue or delayed it, but it’s complicated and important to us,” said Charles Duckett, a trustee. “We’ve worked very hard on it. Personally, I have put countless hours into research and interviews with experts who are working on this issue on a national scale and so have (Chancellor) Carol (Folt) and the administration.”

Duckett plans to release a report of his findings before the board's March meeting.

The building was named after William Saunders in 1922. Notes from a 1920 Board of Trustees meeting found in Wilson Library’s University archives list the accomplishments that qualified William Saunders for an honorary building name. Among those listed accomplishments is “head of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina.”

The board has reviewed the history of Saunders Hall and other monuments across campus but has not discussed Saunders within the context of an official name change yet.

According to the University’s renaming policy outlined by former Chancellor Holden Thorp, a renaming may occur when information revealed about the benefactor violates University standards.

“If the benefactor’s or honoree’s reputation changes substantially so that the continued use of that name may compromise the public trust, dishonor the University’s standards or otherwise be contrary to the best interests of the University, the naming may be revoked,” the policy states.

Despite this, the policy cautions against judging a benefactor or honoree on his or her past accomplishments in today’s standards.

“Namings should not be altered simply because later observers would have made different judgments,” the policy goes on to say.

Duckett said changing the name of Saunders Hall is not off the table, but the board is looking for a comprehensive solution that could be applied to buildings and figures across campus, like the Silent Sam monument.

“Our challenge is to be responsive to the concerns expressed by our students, faculty and alumni without imposing today’s social norms on the past and ignoring our history, either good or bad,” W. Lowry Caudill, chairman of the board, said in a statement.

Chancellor Carol Folt has been periodically updated on the board’s research.

“I support (the board’s) process and, in the meantime, will continue to reach out to our community to have conversations and to develop new ways to build a community that is welcoming, safe and just for all,” Folt said in a statement.

Board members are formulating a process for students, faculty and community members to provide their input on the issue. Duckett said some form of feedback process will be in place before the board announces a final decision.

“We are listening, and we will listen, and there will be ways for people to be heard,” Duckett said.

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CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this story failed to specify that trustee Charles Duckett plans to release his own report on Saunders Hall, independent of the Board of Trustees, who will discuss the issue and its progress in March. The story has been updated to reflect this change.