DURHAM, N.C. -- A building on Duke University's campus will no longer be named after a benefactor who espoused white supremacist ideas. 

  • Julian Carr's name will be removed from a building where the history department is located
  • Carr was a Confederate veteran who gave land where part of Duke was built
  • The school said trustees chose to restore the building to its original name, the Classroom Building 

The university said its Board of Trustees on Saturday voted to approve removing Julian Carr's name from a building where the history department is located.

Carr was a Confederate veteran and tobacco magnate who gave land where part of Duke was built, helping facilitate the university's move to Durham. He once bragged during a 1913 speech about whipping a Black woman. 

 

Carr building to be renamed the Classroom Building. Photo: Duke University

 

The school's history professors filed a formal request to remove Carr's name earlier this year. A special committee and President Vincent E. Price both recommended removing Carr's name.

"Our campus is first and foremost an inclusive community of people, not of classrooms and buildings. With each new student or faculty member who arrives here, with each new discovery made or perspective shared, this community grows and evolves to better meet the challenges of its time. The renaming of the Carr Building represents one such evolution, at once a reflection of how our world has changed and a demonstration that our values and bonds will endure far longer than mortar or stone," Price said in a statement.

Duke said trustees had chosen to restore the building to its original name, the Classroom Building.

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