By Joseph Abraham, Editor-in-Chief

Published in print on Jan.21, 2015

Last Wednesday at a faculty senate meeting, Chancellor Brady spoke about plans to form a committee that would look into whether or not UNCG should change the name of Aycock Auditorium.

While former Gov. Charles B. Aycock (1859-1912) was known for his support of education across the state of North Carolina and contributed heavily to this campus, the main reasons for investigating the name change are because of his well-documented ties to the white supremacy movement.

The challenge in this case is that Aycock lived during a time when many across our state shared these views, and changing the name would mean taking away recognition of someone who helped shape our physical campus.

However, I believe changing the name of the auditorium is best for our university going forward.

Last June, Duke University changed the name of their residence hall named after Aycock following pressure from the student body. Fellow UNC system school, East Carolina University, has also formed a committee to evaluate the Aycock name.

UNCG’s choice to change the name should not be based on what the other campuses are doing, but instead based on the fact that our campus is known for the diversity of its student body. We are all about culture,and recognizing someone who is antithetical to that commitment to culture does not fit in with these values.

Aycock is known for speeches such as “Governor Aycock on ‘the negro problem,’” which he gave in 1903 and can be found on Learn NC’s website.

“I am proud of my state,” the speech beings, “because there we have solved the Negro problem…”

However, Aycock’s speech highlights the intrinsic contradictions in his personal believes and political agenda: “We must rise by ourselves, we must execute judgment in righteousness; we must educate not onlyourselves but see to it that the Negro has an opportunity for education.”

“As a white man,” he continues, “I am afraid of but one thing for my race and that is that we shall become afraid to give the Negro a fair chance.”

This speech shows the complexity of Aycock’s beliefs, as they do not quite make sense. On one hand he shows his support for racial separation, but still wanted African Americans to get a fair chance to succeed? It seems unlikely one cannot succeed if not given an equal opportunity.

According to College Board’s website, 42 percent of UNCG’s student body is nonwhite. Therefore, regardless of the contradictions, Charles Aycock’s views are not representative of our campus’ values and commitment to the celebration of diverity.

While no one can be certain what Aycock would think of UNCG’s diverse student body today, my guess is he would not be thrilled.

My solution is simple: Rename the auditorium, but do not erase Aycock from this campus’ history books.

He showed leadership and was generous to this campus, especially following the campus fire in 1904.

While many have come to associate the Aycock Auditorium with the arts and excellence, over time people will get used to a new name.

Following a semester filled with negative publicity, changing the name to reinforce our campus’ commitment to the celebration of diversity is not only necessary for the future, but the decision itself will have many more pros than cons.