{"id":139575,"date":"2023-12-28T00:07:36","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T05:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=139575"},"modified":"2023-12-27T22:05:37","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T03:05:37","slug":"virginia-seminary-marks-200th-anniversary-by-scrubbing-names-linked-to-slavery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/virginia-seminary-marks-200th-anniversary-by-scrubbing-names-linked-to-slavery\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia seminary marks 200th anniversary by scrubbing names linked to slavery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christian institution also pays reparations to descendants of slaves<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Virginia Theological Seminary renamed six of its buildings this fall in what its leaders say is an effort to address the Episcopal institution’s \u201clegacies of slavery and racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move by the seminary, which celebrated its 200th anniversary this year, comes as part of a larger effort to ensure the campus \u201cwelcomes all,\u201d according<\/a> to its website.<\/p>\n

Along with renaming buildings, the Christian institution’s leaders also have removed<\/a> portraits of slave owners and established an endowment to make reparations to the descendants of slaves who worked to construct the Alexandria seminary.<\/p>\n

In early November, the Board of Virginia Theological Seminary voted<\/a> to rename six of the school\u2019s buildings. Under the new nomenclature, the seminary\u2019s Madison Hall is now Canterbury Hall, and Johns Hall is now Communion Hall.\u00a0Additionally, Meade Hall is Descendants Hall, Sparrow Hall is Alumni Hall, Moore Hall is Mission Hall, and Wilmer Hall is Potomac Hall, according to the board decision.<\/p>\n

This change will ensure the seminary focuses less on \u201chonoring people\u201d and more on \u201chonoring certain themes,\u201d the Very Rev. Ian Markham, dean and president, wrote<\/a> in a Nov. 13 statement after the vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cVTS periodically reviews the names of its buildings,\u201d Markham told The College Fix<\/em>. \u201cThe Seminary decided to review the current building names in the lead up to its Historic Bicentenary,\u201d which the school celebrated all this year.<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s decision \u201cfocused on changing the names of buildings which were named after people, and replacing them with words with geographical, historical, or Gospel-related themes,\u201d he told The Fix<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But this was not the only reason the buildings were renamed.<\/p>\n

Rather, Markham told The Fix<\/em>: \u201cSome of the people buildings were named after had significant associations with slavery. The decision to rename these buildings reflects the Seminary\u2019s desire to address the legacies of slavery and racism at VTS.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his Nov. 13 announcement, Markham told the campus: \u201cIt will take some time for us all to be accustomed to these new names. But in the long run, we are continuing to make sure that the campus welcomes all as a place of learning and formation.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is not the seminary\u2019s first name change to ensure its campus is \u201cinviting for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2019, the school changed the name of Key Hall — named after one of its founders<\/a>, Francis Scott Key, the author of the “Star Spangled Banner” and a slave owner — to Bicentennial Hall after a renovation project, according to the seminary website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As part of the renovations, it also removed oil paintings from Scott Lounge, several of which featured former bishops of Virginia, because many of the subjects were slave owners or sympathetic to slavery, the website states.<\/p>\n

Most significant, perhaps, was the seminary\u2019s 2019 decision to create a reparations program to address its past participation in \u201censlaving persons, enacting Jim Crow, and enforcing segregation,\u201d according to the seminary website.<\/p>\n

\u201cVTS created the Reparations Program as part of the Seminary\u2019s commitment to recognizing its participation in oppression in the past, and working towards healing and justice in the future,\u201d Markham told The Fix<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Markham said the reparations program provides monetary compensation to the descendants of black workers who labored to construct the seminary for little or no pay.<\/p>\n

The reparations endowment now contains $2.7 million, and to-date, it has dispersed approximately $265,000 to 137 descendants, he told The Fix.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cVTS does not believe that there is an amount of money that can compensate for the suffering that took place, but the Seminary does affirm the principle that a form of cash reparations is appropriate for the descendants of people exploited on campus,\u201d Markham said. \u201cVTS believes that the institution is indebted to these individuals who helped to build and maintain the campus, and the reparations program is a modest attempt to recognize the debt that is owed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Christian colleges and seminaries have considered similar actions.<\/p>\n

Earlier this fall, Wheaton College in Illinois, a well-known Protestant Christian higher education institution, removed its third president’s name from its library due to racism allegations, The College Fix<\/em> reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Princeton Theological Seminary and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary also have faced<\/a> calls<\/a> to pay slavery reparations in recent years.<\/p>\n

MORE: Southern Baptist Theological Seminary won’t pay slavery reparations<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

IMAGE: Virginia Theological Seminary<\/p>\n

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