‘Symbol of hate’: N.C. school changes sports facility’s name
Chowan University will scrap name of civil rights opponent
RALEIGH, N.C. — An athletic facility at an Eastern North Carolina university will no longer bear Jesse Helms’ name.
The building at Chowan University, a small Christian school in the town of Murfreesboro, was constructed in 1977 and named Helms Center after the late, longtime North Carolina senator known for his stark opposition to civil rights in the United States. But he was recently replaced as its namesake.
The facility is now the Hawks Athletic Center after the university’s board of trustees decided to rename it, the school posted on Facebook recently.
Hawks are the school’s mascot.
“The new name of the athletic center is in recognition that the building has had significant renovations in recent years, and is a central building for our Hawks competition,” the Facebook post read. The decision came after “recent events” brought to light concerns from members of the campus community that the name was a “symbol of hate,” the school said in June, when it held a virtual forum for students to express their opinions and concerns.
“We believe voices should be heard,” the university’s president said in the June Facebook post. “Concerns should be heard. Opinions should be heard. We believe that change is good. We believe Black Lives Matter.”
Helms represented North Carolina in the U.S. Congress from 1973 to 2003 and was a leader of the conservative movement that vehemently opposed the civil rights movement throughout his career. He died in 2008.
He opposed the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday during his time in the Senate, once telling colleagues, “We’re free, white and 21, as we say in North Carolina,” per The Observer. He also opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, busing for racial integration in schools, and gay rights during his political career, according to Britannica.
In June, Chowan’s history department faculty detailed Helms’ positions in a letter urging the university to change the name of the athletic facility, the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald reported.
The letter cited his opposition to the 1965 Voting Rights Act and threats he made to Black people who tried to vote, among other things, the paper reports.
“To be fair, Jesse Helms represented North Carolina for thirty years and did much to benefit the state and the nation, but those accomplishments do not diminish the fact that his beliefs, actions and reputation for racial discrimination run counter to values and mission of Chowan University,” the letter concluded, per the News-Herald. “Black Lives Matter and we encourage the university to change the name of the Helms Center.”