Rename UC Berkeley? How the university is responding to ‘denamed’ overseas library (San Francisco: how much, living in)

[sav858]

Cancel Berkeley!

Rename UC Berkeley? How the university is responding to ‘denamed’ overseas library

“We acknowledge that the university’s founders chose to name their new town and campus after an individual whose views warrant no honor or commemoration,” university spokesperson Dan Mogulof said in a statement, referring to George Berkeley’s history as a slaveholder with an ill-fated plan to force Native American children into Christianity.


The quandary facing UC Berkeley extends to the city at large, where discussions of a name change are already percolating, but not gaining much traction. In an opinion piece published last year in Berkeleyside, a longtime Berkeley resident advocated for renaming the city: “It’s time for us to move on from the past. The city of Berkeley, our city, is named after a slave owner, racist, and colonialist.”

[Ruth4Truth]

Paywall/sign-up wall. As a born-and-raised Berkeley-ite, I'm stunned. And grossed out by the history of the name. But a re-naming? IDK. The university is known around the world, in academic circles, at least. It's like asking: what if Harvard decided one day to not be "Harvard"?

Tough question. This issue will be worth following.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Paywall/sign-up wall. As a born-and-raised Berkeley-ite, I'm stunned. And grossed out by the history of the name. But a re-naming? IDK. The university is known around the world, in academic circles, at least. It's like asking: what if Harvard decided one day to not be "Harvard"?

Tough question. This issue will be worth following.

Born in San Francisco, living in the east bay 40 years and working in Oakland, we always referred to it as the "People's Republic of Berkeley." Still, changing the name after 145 years (incorporated 1878) seems a bit to much. Imagine how much it will cost to change all of the city's contracts, other legal documents, signs, job titles, policies and procedures, and everything else. Here in our county a similar change was made when King County changed just their logo, from a crown symbol to the image of Martin Luther King. To me it's erasing history. Regardless of whether George Berkeley or William Rufus King owned slaves, the founders of the city of Berkeley and King County honored them by using their names. The same with many other slave owners who had organizations, cities or counties named after them that are still there today. Are those all going to be changed too?

Naming a few:

Madison
Clark
Columbus
Audubon
Balboa
Caesar
Dodge
Franklin
Grant
Hancock
Harrison
Houston
Jackson
Jefferson
Madison
Mason

[MechAndy]

They changed the names of a bunch of military bases so this should be a piece of cake .

On another note,
I wonder if the “Me Too” movement will go after MLK.
That sure is going to confuse a bunch of maps near all those Greyhound bus stations.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

I wonder if the “Me Too” movement will go after MLK.

The feminist poet, bell hooks, addressed that in a statement. If you tried doing a search for it, you might find it. I think the gist was, that just because he was able to bring about positive change for his sector, we shouldn't disregard women's concerns, and sell women short. People are multi-faceted. It's ok to call them out on one facet, while celebrating another.

[Cloudy Dayz]

De-emphasise "Berkeley". Rebrand as UCB. Problem solved.

[davdaven]

I lived in Berkeley for 10 years, moving away in 2018. It's gotten even more "Berzerkeley" in the past 5 years. Honestly, I'm surprised they didn't come up with the renaming effort on their own. It was only a matter of time.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by davdaven

I lived in Berkeley for 10 years, moving away in 2018. It's gotten even more "Berzerkeley" in the past 5 years. Honestly, I'm surprised they didn't come up with the renaming effort on their own. It was only a matter of time.

Why, what's been going on there in the last 5 yrs, besides homelessness?

[TheTimidBlueBars]

I don't care about preserving history; times change. But it seems weird to spend millions of dollars on changing the name of the university that could be going toward improving the livelihood of the many poor black East Bay residents.

King County was brought up, I actually liked that approach. Pick some less problematic person named Berkeley and throw up a plaque honoring them.

[luv4horses]

It’s only a name. Plenty of good people have the surname Berkeley. Just leave it alone. And emphasize all the good achieved via university and townspeople.

Changing the name won’t change history. It will only contribute to a soon-to-be history of confusion and costly errors.