Renaming process for Hamilton Hall to Pauli Murray Hall stalled

Editor's note: This article uses she/her, he/him and they/them pronouns to refer to Pauli Murray. This is done in accordance with the style used by the Pauli Murray Center.

Four years after the chairs of the history; sociology; political science; and peace, war, and defense programs signed and addressed a letter to former Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz calling for the renaming of Hamilton Hall — which houses those departments — to Pauli Murray Hall, the building's name remains officially unchanged. 

The letter, which was published in July 2020, described the naming of Hamilton Hall in 1972 as “a mistake that should now be remedied.”

"Not only is renaming Hamilton Hall as Pauli Murray Hall the right thing to do; it is the right thing to do now," the letter said. 

Mark Crescenzi, chair of the political science department, signed the letter in 2020. He said Hamilton Hall's current name fails to abide by UNC’s Title IX policy, which works to create a safe campus environment free from discrimination as well as equal access to education and employment regardless of protected statuses.

“Speaking only for myself, there are many reasons to continue to hope that the Board of Trustees acts to remove the current name," Crescenzi said in an email. "I want everything about our building to signal an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our community."

Pauli Murray was a pioneering civil rights activist and genderfluid legal scholar who was denied admission from UNC’s doctoral sociology program in 1938 because they were Black. Murray's groundbreaking actions included arguing for the reversal of Plessy v. Ferguson, leading to significant legal victories against racial discrimination.

Murray also fought for gender equality, coining the term “Jane Crow” to describe the unique discrimination Black women face. He also advocated for including the word "sex" in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or nationality illegal, and helped shape current anti-discrimination laws.

“Few have accomplished what she did, and having her name on our building is something I aspire to be worthy of,” Crescenzi said. “She also represents the knowledge and impact that UNC missed out on by denying her admission. Her success could have been UNC’s success.”

The building is currently named after Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac Hamilton. Hamilton was a professor of history at UNC from 1906 through 1948 and founder of the Southern Historical Collection, an archival collection within Wilson Library. Despite his contributions, Hamilton was openly a white supremacist who promoted racist ideas and supported the Jim Crow era in his research. 

In another letter to Guskiewicz in April 2021, the Commission on History, Race, and a Way Forward recommended the removal of the names of several figures from campus buildings, citing their roles in promoting white supremacy. The members argued that the namesakes' actions cannot be excused by historical norms and urged the University to seize the opportunity to confront racial injustice and uphold a commitment to truth and inclusivity.

The process for requesting the removal of a building’s name begins with a written request to the chancellor. This request must explain how the current name conflicts with University values and provide evidence. An appointed committee then investigates and presents findings to the chancellor who reviews them to decide whether to request removal. If necessary, a formal request with evidence is submitted to the UNC Board of Trustees.

Per BOT policy, requests for name removals are considered weaker if the namesake’s offensive behavior is deemed conventional for the time in which they existed and/or if other aspects of the individual’s life and work are significant to the University. 

Kaili Monrose, a UNC sophomore, said continuing to push for renaming the building would contribute to a more inclusive campus for students of color and Hamilton’s contributions to the University should not overshadow his problematic history.

“I think there are plenty of examples in the past where we've said, ‘Oh, they've had good contributions, but they weren't good people,’” she said. “So we should look at how they treated other people, instead of just their contributions.” 

On the websites for the sociology and history departments, some faculty offices are designated under "Hamilton Hall" while others are marked as either "Pauli Murray Hall" or "Hamilton Hall (Soon to be Pauli Murray)." Some professors currently refer to Hamilton Hall as Pauli Murray Hall, aligning themselves with ongoing advocacy for renaming initiatives, which can cause confusion among students.

UNC sophomore Kaya Jordann Smith-Burgess said she was late to a final exam last semester because she went to Hamilton Hall instead of Murray Hall, which is located diagonally across the quad.  

She said she finds it inconvenient for the name of a building to be a gray area.

“It's really irritating to me because it shouldn't take so long to do something so important,” she said. “Especially because I feel like there's a lot of students on campus that would be willing to participate in fixing this, and from what I know it kind of stops dead at the Board of Trustees.”

According to a statement from UNC Media Relations, the Commission on History, Race, and a Way Forward continues to recommend name changes. 

"Any consideration of renaming would occur at public meetings of the Board of Trustees, per the policy," Media Relations said in the statement.

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