Middle Tennessee State University announced it will once again petition the state to change the name of Forrest Hall, named after Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest.
The university made its first bid to the Tennessee Historical Commission back in 2018. The petition needed support from two-thirds of the commission, which it did not get. MTSU didn’t appeal the decision, in part because of how expensive and arduous the process would be.
Now, MTSU will try again in hopes that the current commission will be more open to renaming the hall, especially after they voted to remove a bust of Forrest from the state capitol this summer.
The Historical Commission is made up of 29 members, most of whom are appointed by the governor. Since the university’s first bid in 2018, Governor Bill Lee has replaced several members of the commission.
Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, like Lee Millar, opposed the bust’s removal, and blamed Lee for changing the makeup of the commission.
“He has stuffed the Historical Commission with his own cronies in order to get his way for political reasons,” Millar told WPLN News.
Yet other activists celebrated the move.
On MTSU’s campus, the removal of the Forrest bust meant possibilities for a renewed push to change the hall’s name.
“It does make me excited for their possible support in this situation,” MTSU student Toriana Williams told WPLN News in July.
Forrest Hall was built in 1954 and subsequently named after Forrest for his notoriety during the Civil War. Students and university officials have for years expressed support in renaming the building.
“The name of a building should be a net positive, or at least neutral, to our campus,” University President Sydney McPhee told WPLN news in July. “However, the name of this building, and the emotions it evokes, distracts from the values, goals and priorities we share as a modern, inclusive and comprehensive university.”
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