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Building Recognition Project

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In the fall of 2020, the Board of Regents released a letter acknowledging this university’s historic and contemporary ties to enslavers, sympathizers, and prolific racists. In the spring of 2021, outrage over the enduring impact of our racist ties came to a point among many in the student and alumni community. The Order of the Gown's mission is to maintain integrity on campus and defining our values and assessing the shortcomings of these values on campus is an essential part of Sewanee integrity. We are seeking to continue and promote the academic dialogue about commemorations and memorials throughout Sewanee through various dialogue and information based campaigns. 

Alex Robinson '23 is leading the Building Recognition Project. The Committee, in conjunction with the Roberson Project on Slavery, Race, and Reconciliation, has commenced a series of historical and informational displays in multiple academic buildings that outline the problematic stories of the benefactors and namesakes. This informational campaign is an effort to share with students, staff, and faculty the story of the building they are standing in as the beginning point for renaming University buildings to celebrate historical figures of our past that better represent our values.

For many this is a controversial movement, but our council, dedicated to upholding integrity, evaluated whether celebration and public dedication to racist activists was within our values or not, and the conclusion was a unanimous no. Some view the renaming of building as "erasing the past," but the committee is educating themselves and the community about our history, defining our values, and building a community that reflects these standards. Building such as Gailor, Walsh-Ellet, DuPont, Elliott, Gorgas, and Quintard are the main focuses for this project. 

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