An Integrated Planning Approach
By: Jonathan Holloway, Rutgers University-New Brunswick | Erin Johnson, 2020–21 SCUP Fellow; Rutgers University-Newark | David Neuman, Neu Campus Planning, Inc. | Michelle Packer, University of Maryland-College Park
In this session, we’ll describe the trends, challenges, and opportunities related to re-naming and de-naming on campus.
Abstract: From 2015–2018, amidst a period of heightened activism on campuses and broader societal change, institutions of higher education renamed and de-named campus buildings with namesakes whose legacies were seen to conflict with institutional missions and community values and harmful to members of the campus and surrounding communities. In 2020, the push for addressing problematic namesakes has grown exponentially, expanding beyond buildings and postsecondary education. Effectively managing naming issues on campus and the expectations and interests of internal and external stakeholder groups is challenging, emotional, and time consuming work that has a lasting impact on the physical campus as well as, institutional legacy. We’ll describe the trends, challenges, and opportunities related to re-naming and de-naming on campus.