Buildings debut new names, replacing those of slave owners

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. >> When students return to the campus of SUNY New Paltz later this month, they will see the same buildings, but new names on a half-dozen of them.

The five residence halls and dining hall in the Peregrine complex, formerly the Hasbrouck complex, were renamed after two years of discussion that pointed out that many of the original Huguenot settlers of New Paltz, for whom the buildings were named, had been slave owners.

Following discussion initiated by SUNY New Paltz President Donald P. Christian and led by the Diversity and Inclusion Council, the names were changed.

The vote by the SUNY Board of Trustees in March, which sits in Albany, was unanimous, according to Christian. The board’s approval was necessary for the new names to take effect.

The new names were announced on March 6.

Hasbrouck Dining Hall is now Peregrine Dining Hall; Bevier Hall is now Minnewaska Hall; Crispell Hall is now Ashokan Hall; Deyo Hall is now Awosting Hall; Dubois Hall is now Mohonk Hall; Lefevre Hall is now Shawangunk Hall.

All of the buildings renamed, with the exception of the dining hall, are dormitories.

The College Council said the new names were chosen from among 11 submitted by a study group following a survey issued in December 2018. The council said a total of 3,107 people — including SUNY New Paltz students, alumni and employees, as well as members of the community — responded to the survey.

The college said previously that names of the slave-owning families will be “preserved on the campus through a contemplative space that will showcase the college’s full history.”

SUNY New Paltz students had objected to the buildings’ names in the past, but the controversy became more pronounced after a counterprotester was killed during a white supremacist march and rally in August 2017 in Charlottesville, Va. The heightened objections also came amid a national debate about whether Confederate flags and statues of Confederate leaders should be removed from public places.

Slavery in New York ended in 1827.

IMAGE PROVIDED BY SUNY NEW PALTZ This image provided by SUNY New Paltz shows the six buildings that make up the college’s Hasbrouck Complex, with their new and old names. The center building is a dining hall; the rest are dorms.