University to Rename Auditorium That Honored a White Supremacist
Filed in African-American History on March 1, 2016
The board of trustees of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro has voted to rename Aycock Auditorium on its campus. The auditorium was named for Charles Brantley Aycock, who served as governor of North Carolina from 1901 to 1905. While Governor Aycock was a strong advocate for public education, he also was a staunch segregationist and led efforts to disenfranchise Black voters in the state.
The committee that recommended that the name of the auditorium be changed issued a statement that read in part that “while Governor Charles B. Aycock had many accomplishments, Governor Aycock’s beliefs, actions, and resulting reputation related to matters of racial discrimination are contrary to the best interests of the University given its current mission and values.”
In 2014, Duke University renamed Aycock Hall, a student dormitory on campus. And in 2015, East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, decided to remove the name of Charles B. Aycock from a residence hall on campus.
Aycock Auditorium, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
