Board rejects efforts to rename MTSU building named after first Ku Klux Klan leader
Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general, was known for slave trading and believed to be the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WSMV) – The Tennessee Historical Commission has rejected Middle Tennessee State University’s attempts to rename a campus building named after a Confederal general tied to the Ku Klux Klan.
The building, Forrest Hall, is named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general who was known for slave trading and believed to be the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, according to MTSU and History.com.
Efforts to change the name of the building by MTSU leadership were thwarted after the recent decision by the Tennessee Historical Commission. The historical body rejected the university’s waiver that would allow the university to change the name with an 11-6 vote, with 3 abstentions.
It would’ve taken a unanimous vote to secure the waiver.
“Led by (MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee) and University Counsel James Floyd, a university delegation recently presented its case for seeking the waiver over several hours during the commission’s meeting held Friday, June 21, at the William R. Snodgrass Tennessee Tower in downtown Nashville,” MTSU said in a media release. “Some students and faculty also expressed support during a brief public comment period at the end of the meeting. On hand to object to the petition waiver were representatives of the Tennessee Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.”
The latest waiver request was the second in the past several years. McPhee and student government president Michai Mosby expressed their disappointment with the latest rejection.
“In failing to recognize how the naming of this building serves as a painful reminder to many in our community of a blighted period in our history, they ignored their own rationale, crafted in 2021 to justify removing Forrest’s bust from the State Capitol, stating that taking such actions ‘advances the compelling public interest of racial reconciliation.’” McPhee said in a statement.
“This decision is disheartening and does not reflect the values of inclusion, respect, and progress that we, as a university community, strive to uphold,” added Mosby.
For many, the Confederacy and its monuments are a symbol of racism due to the South’s sentiment toward slavery during the Civil War, while others believe it’s a part of the United States’ history that should be preserved.
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