You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
The University of Richmond has removed the name of T. C. Williams from its law school, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. The T. C. Williams School of Law is now called the University of Richmond School of Law.
Williams, who attended the institution from 1846 to 1849 when it was Richmond College, was a trustee and a benefactor whose gift helped establish the law school. He also owned 25 to 40 enslaved people in the mid-1800s, the newspaper reported.
The removal of Williams’s name, which was approved by the Board of Trustees last week, follows university leaders’ decision to change the names of six campus buildings last March after a year of contentious discussions and debates about buildings named after controversial figures including slaveholders, eugenicists and supporters of white supremacy.
“We recognize that some may be disappointed or disagree with this decision,” university president Kevin Hallock and the board wrote in a letter to the community. “We also recognize the role the Williams family has played here and respect the full and complete history of the institution.”
