Preliminary Renaming of Saunders Hall is Underway

The changeover from Saunders Hall to Carolina Hall is already beginning.

Preliminary work is underway to remove the name of Williams L. Saunders from the building that houses the Geography and Religious Study courses at Carolina.

Just last Thursday, the UNC Board of Trustees voted to remove “Saunders” and rename the building “Carolina Hall.”

Now, the letters above the side doors spelling out Saunders’ name have been removed, with just the residue left behind harkening back to days gone by.

Student activists and faculty have been calling for the removal of Saunders name due to his past as a Colonel in the Confederate Army and connections to the North Carolina Ku Klux Klan.

Activists were calling for the name to be changed to Hurston Hall, in honor of author Zora Neale Hurston. Advocates say Hurston is deserving of the building’s namesake because she took classes at UNC before the school was integrated. Trustees said there was not a strong enough connection between Hurston and Carolina to warrant the naming.

The large engraved “Saunders Hall” above the building’s main entrance still stands, and UNC officials says there is no timetable from the university to have that slab removed or replaced.

Trustee members say they chose “Carolina Hall” to serve as a unifying name for the UNC community.

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The physical transformation of Saunders Hall to Carolina Hall is complete. The sound of hammers pounding in the new lettering over the side entrances of what is now officially “Carolina Hall” permeated through the morning air on UNC’s campus, on Thursday, that was otherwise filled with chirping birds and the occasional passing group on an […]

Preliminary Renaming of Saunders Hall is Underway

The changeover from Saunders Hall to Carolina Hall is already beginning. Preliminary work is underway to remove the name of Williams L. Saunders from the building that houses the Geography and Religious Study courses at Carolina. Just last Thursday, the UNC Board of Trustees voted to remove “Saunders” and rename the building “Carolina Hall.” Now, […]

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