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<\/p>\nNEW YORK CITY \u2014 East, West and North. The only thing missing from Hunter buildings is South before it becomes a full compass. Despite this, Dr. Jacqueline N. Brown feels Hunter College has lost its way.<\/p>\n
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After more than a year of advocating, Brown, an associate professor of anthropology, is still pushing for the West building renaming in honor of the school\u2019s famous social justice alumni Audre Lorde<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Audre Lorde initiative gained traction last October when a petition<\/a> surfaced on Change.org by Diana Kennedy, a women and gender studies junior at Hunter. The plea makes a case for the renaming based on the importance of Lorde\u2019s work and teachings. The petition calls it \u201can essential first step of honoring pioneers for racial equity in academia and uplifting all students and faculty of color.\u201d<\/p>\n The Black Lives Matter civil rights movement became a catalyst for the Audre Lorde initiative that sought to reckon with systemic racism, diversity and inclusivity in academia and advancing positive changes in society. \u201cAfter the killing of George Floyd, there\u2019s something I knew I wanted to do to make a difference in our community and for me that was to engage in activism with my peers and make demands that tackled racial inequities and systemic racism<\/a> in our institutions,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n An undergraduate \u2014 Hunter alumna, class of 1959 \u2014 and a former professor of Hunter, Lorde was a self-described “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet, who dedicated both her life and her creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia,\u201d according to the Poetry Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n The renaming of the Hunter West building would make students and faculty more aware of the role race plays in institutions and daily lives, according to Dr. Brown. \u201cLorde and her teachings are reflective of our community,\u201d Dr. Brown said. \u201cIt will not only provide representation to all of us, but will also drive people to become curious, read more about her and her work. I’d like for people to take the learning and apply it in several personal contexts.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Brown, along with students of Hunter\u2019s presidential task force to advance racial equity and the student government, proposed the Audre Lorde initiative last fall but were faced with bureaucratic setbacks and the arduous process and expensive cost of renaming a building. \u201cBuildings are usually named after donors who\u2019ve contributed a significant amount of funds, and to rename the West building, we would have to convince everyone to get on board and raise money,\u201d Kennedy, who posted the original petition, said. \u201cInstead of having a building named after directions, we can have it named after Audre Lorde, someone who reflects community values.\u201d<\/p>\n CUNY\u2019s policy<\/a> in naming a building, or part of a building, states two pathways for the Audre Lorde initiative. The first, namings designed to honor distinguished service with no financial gift, honors an individual that is determined by carefully weighing the individual’s high scholarship and\/or distinguished service. The second, namings designed to recognize a significant financial contribution to the college, only occurs when a significant gift is received.<\/p>\n In a letter<\/a> to CUNY chancellor F\u00e9lix Matos Rodr\u00edguez and Hunter president Jennifer Raab, African American educator and civil rights activist Angela Davis voiced her support for the Audre Lorde initiative, describing the importance in naming the West building after her. \u201cFor many, including myself, Hunter College is already defined in part by her presence there as a student and an instructor. In our minds the college and the person are inextricably connected,\u201d said Davis, professor emerita University of California, Santa Cruz. \u201cAmong the many reasons to name a building after Audre Lorde, perhaps the most compelling one is that it would affirm and inspire Hunter students, whose own identities and life experiences, in one way or another, resemble Lorde\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n Raab did not directly respond to requests for comment on the renaming.<\/p>\n “The Presidential Taskforce to Advance Racial Equity has received multiple naming and acknowledgment requests and is establishing a process that is inclusive of students, staff, and faculty,\u201d said a Hunter College spokesperson in a prepared statement.<\/p>\n While that process is being developed, Roosevelt House has a tribute to the writer underway. Through the series<\/a>, the community gathers to advance and discuss the enduring power of her work, exploring Hunter\u2019s Community Read<\/a> \u201cSister Outsider\u201d and celebrating other works by the distinguished poet and writer.<\/p>\n A senior student majoring in human biology and ally of the initiative, Onyekachi Okeke, maintains that the renaming is symbolic of changing times in our society, politically and socially. \u201cI want to be able to see a reflection of an environment the Hunter community wants to live in and reject and decolonize what was previously taught,\u201d Okeke said.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that people don\u2019t forget a few months from now and continue working towards this positive action,\u201d Okeke said. \u201cThe Audre Lorde Series will eventually end, but the renaming of the building will always be there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A petition from students and faculty to celebrate distinguished alumni Audre Lorde has fizzled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":3486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[373,374,14,377,376],"class_list":["post-3479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-audre-lorde","tag-blm","tag-hunter-college","tag-social-justice","tag-west-building"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3479"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3563,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3479\/revisions\/3563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/brie.hunter.cuny.edu\/hunterathenian\/wp-content\/uploads\/Audre-Lorde-300x200.jpg\")
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