Alumni express their thoughts on the university’s name change.
Photo: Emilie Dajc | Marlin Chronicle
Protesters at the Aug. 29 protest against the university’s name change. There were 27 participants, according to President Scott D. Miller.
I write with deep disappointment over the Board of Trustees’ decision to erase the Virginia Wesleyan University name and replace it with that of a donor. After 64 years, this move does not honor our legacy — it cheapens it.
Virginia Wesleyan was built by its students, alumni, faculty and staff. We carried its name into our careers, churches and communities, building the reputation that still stands today. As the first African American woman crowned Homecoming Queen in 2005 and a founding member of the first Divine Nine sorority on campus, I know firsthand how students shape the identity and spirit of this university. To discard those contributions in favor of a donor’s name sends the message that money, not mission, defines this institution.
I want to be clear: I hold nothing against Jane Batten. I am grateful for her generosity and recognize the tremendous impact of her financial support. But I do not see how naming the entire institution after her does more than what has already been done to honor her. There are countless ways to celebrate donors without erasing the very name and history of the university they sought to uplift.
Universities are not corporations to be auctioned off. They safeguard tradition, foster belonging and elevate every graduate who walks through their doors. This decision risks alienating alumni, eroding trust and weakening recruitment in a competitive market where name recognition is everything.
– Erica (Clarke) Tachoir ‘05
Agency is the ability of individuals and groups to exercise control over themselves. At Virginia Wesleyan, I learned historians must determine who has and who does not have agency to see whose history is being told. Drs. Dan Margolies, Clay Drees and Rich Bond imbued me with this knowledge when I studied for my history degree. I write now with the authority of my own doctorate in history and as an expert on pacification.
Your agency is lost — taken by an administration keen on separating you from a legacy of lighting fires. The very legacy that encouraged students to ask hard questions and not back down is smothered.
Today only the administration retains agency as it alone decides our history. An influx of money and construction allowed the administration to pacify many of us to the erosion of our history in the name of their progress. But they have overreached in renaming our institution — awakening thousands of alumni. It is clear the administration endeavors to sever the last undeniable link to an institution they did not found.
New name, new founder, new legacy. Should the renaming succeed, Virginia Wesleyan ends next July and President Miller can dictate what is and what is not school history. You have all been pacified.
– Robert J. Thompson III, Ph.D. ‘06
