A building at Middle Tennessee State University will continue bearing the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. In an 11-6 decision, the Tennessee Historical Commission voted down a request from the university to rename Forrest Hall.
MTSU President Sidney McPhee and student government president Michai Mosby released a joint open letter to the university community expressing their disappointment.
“This decision is disheartening and does not reflect the values of inclusion, respect, and progress that we, as a university community, strive to uphold,” Mosby wrote.
This is the second time MTSU has asked the Historical Commission to remove Forrest’s name from the building. An attempt in 2018 was also unsuccessful. However, the commission’s 2021 decision to remove a bust of Forrest from the state capitol building gave the university hope that things would work out differently this time.
“(The Historical Commission) 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,’” MTSU president McPhee wrote in his open letter.
Forrest has no ties to the university, and it was not dedicated to him until 1958, four years after it was constructed, and in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. However, some supporters of the name argue Forrest has a strong connection to the surrounding town of Murfreesboro. Forrest led the Confederate army in battles there during the Civil War.
Mosby said the fight for a name change is not over.
“Let us prove that our commitment to justice and equality cannot be overshadowed by a single decision. Our voices matter, and together, we will be heard,” he wrote.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM