Update: Queen’s University Names Building After Its First Black Graduate

Last month JBHE reported that the board of trustees of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, had declined a motion offered by a student group to name a building on campus after Robert Sutherland, the university’s first black graduate. Sutherland graduated from the university in 1852 and later bequeathed his entire estate to the university. The money from the Sutherland estate enabled Queen’s University to stay open during some troubled economic times.

Now the board of trustees has reconsidered the students' request and voted to name the university’s policy studies building in honor of Sutherland.

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