Brown University Should Consider Name Change Due to Slave Ties, Critics Say
Faculty at Brown University — the seventh-oldest and arguably the most progressive of America's higher learning institutions — caved into pressure by students and teachers trying to right the perceived wrongs of history by voting earlier this month to rename the Columbus Day holiday as "Fall Weekend."
Proponents cited Christopher Columbus' enslavement and violent treatment of Native Americans, and argued the name of the Italian explorer should be expunged from the day of celebration....
The commission also called on the university last month to re-examine how to teach this history at the 8,000-student institution. But those recommendations did not include the possibility of renaming Brown University, something critics blast as hypocritical.
"If you're going to get rid of the day honoring Columbus because he was involved in slavery, I don't see how you can bypass the Brown problem," said John Leo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. "They have to be consistent with their message on slavery. And if they’re not willing to do that, then there's no reason to take them seriously."
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Proponents cited Christopher Columbus' enslavement and violent treatment of Native Americans, and argued the name of the Italian explorer should be expunged from the day of celebration....
The commission also called on the university last month to re-examine how to teach this history at the 8,000-student institution. But those recommendations did not include the possibility of renaming Brown University, something critics blast as hypocritical.
"If you're going to get rid of the day honoring Columbus because he was involved in slavery, I don't see how you can bypass the Brown problem," said John Leo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. "They have to be consistent with their message on slavery. And if they’re not willing to do that, then there's no reason to take them seriously."