Protesters call for MTSU to change name of Forrest Hall

Protesters call for MTSU to change name of Forrest Hall
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MURFREESBORO, TN (WSMV) – There was a large display of unity Thursday afternoon on Middle Tennessee State University’s campus in an effort to put pressure on university officials to change the name of a building.

MTSU appointed Professor Derek Frisby to chair a panel to make a recommendation on Forrest Hall.

Protesters said they hope the panel will decide to change the name.

“If we’re going to be a progressive movement, a progressive campus, his name should be taken down,” said Andre Cante, an MTSU alumnus. “We’re not here to erase history but to dictate the future.”

As a student, Cante was part of a group hoping to change the name of MTSU’s Forrest Hall in 2006.

“I’ve been waiting for nine years,” Cante said.

Back on campus, Cante said he hopes this effort will be the one to finally get the name changed.

“Now we’re here in 2015,” he said. “In light of everything that’s been going on, Charleston, Ferguson, this is a movement now.”

Students, faculty and alumni marched across campus to say a building named after Nathan Bedford Forrest has no place on campus.

“He’s a Confederate general, a member of the Ku Klux Klan,” Cante said. “In a university that boasts diversity and that we’re a cross-section of students, I think it’s about time to take it down.”

Students stopped to watch the crowd. Their opinions were divided.

“It’s kind of unnecessary,” said Thomas Broussard, an MTSU student. “Forrest Hall was named a very long time ago. We can’t change history. We need to remember it so we don’t repeat it in the future.”

A panel of faculty, students and community representatives will make a recommendation on the future of the building’s name.

Copyright 2015 WSMV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

Source: NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) Channel 4
Protesters call for MTSU to change name of Forrest Hall

 

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