Students Demand the Removal of Reagan as a House Namesake After Recent King's Instagram Post
Graphic by Claire Bernardo
In light of the recent murder of George Floyd and the social unrest it has unleashed, President Gibson released a statement responding to these events on The King’s College Instagram account on Monday. The post sparked an uprising of students and alumni demanding that the school immediately remove Reagan as a House namesake.
In August 2019, an October 1971 audio recording of a private phone call between former President Richard Nixon and the then-governor Ronald Reagan became public. During this call, Reagan referred to Tanzanian delegates as “monkeys,” saying they were still “uncomfortable wearing shoes.”
Seeing as Reagan is a House namesake at King’s, the school wrote a response to his comments saying, “Reagan’s comments to Richard Nixon are patently racist. As such, there is no excuse or warrant for them,” and that they “grieve[d] any angst this may cause for minority students in the King’s community.”
However, King’s decided to retain the namesake for the 2019-2020 academic school year while awaiting a final decision to be made by the Namesake Review Committee (NRC), which began in the spring of 2019.
The House of Reagan executive team immediately denounced the namesake on Twitter after hearing the tapes and decided to unofficially suspend their namesake in September, replacing the namesake with their House virtue, honor.
“It is the firm conviction of our team that our House deserves a namesake who embodies our values, whose name we can all be proud to bear, and that Ronald Reagan is not that name,” said Fritz Scibbe, House of Reagan President. “The Exec Team has decided to suspend the use of Ronald Reagan as a namesake. Until an official decision is made on a replacement, we will be using our House value of Honor to stand in. We view this as an aspirational goal; a desired state for which we are constantly striving.”
On April 27, Gibson released the final decision formed by the President’s cabinet and the NRC to retain all of the House namesakes, including Reagan, saying that, “It is not prudent to ‘cancel’ a House namesake because that figure is unpopular.”
The decision sparked controversy among students and alumni on Twitter, to which King’s did not respond.
“As a society, I know we have it in us to do better...to be better. And so I am not without hope,” Gibson said in the recent King’s Instagram post. “I am committed to leading this College as a place where all are treated with love and dignity. In this regard, we are not done, and I have updates to share with you soon.”
In the past four days, the Instagram post has accumulated 164 comments nearly all demanding that the school remove Reagan as a namesake.
The King’s College Instagram post that sparked controvery
On Tuesday, the College responded to the students in the post’s comment section reiterating what President Gibson said in the original post. “The conversation is not over,” King’s replied. “He [Gibson] is listening. The College is listening. We are creating a process by which house namesakes may change, including the Reagan namesake.”
Students retorted that the school has had plenty of time to remove Reagan as a namesake.
“We feel your urgency and also recognize that this process is too important to set up hastily,” King’s said.
King’s student Anna Hopson created her own Instagram post on Thursday dedicated to the removal of Reagan as a namesake. Hopson’s original post, now updated, read, “NO MORE GLORIFYING RACISTS,” with an instruction to visit the website linked to her account.
The website, titled “REMOVE THE NAMESAKE,” reads, “We will not accept The King’s College’s decision to retain Ronald Reagan as a house namesake. Let’s flood some inboxes.” The statement is followed by information on why the namesake should be removed and instructions for how to email the school and demand the change.
“REMOVE THE NAMESAKE” website home page
“The initial motivation for [creating] the website was anger,” Hopson said. “To be honest, I was appalled by the school’s statement on June 1, considering everything that had happened with the namesake decision.”
Hopson understood Gibson's sentiment and duty to address the violence affecting the Black community at this time but said that in light of the school’s recent decision to retain Reagan as a namesake, the post “read so wrong.”
“It’s hypocritical for the school to offer condolences but continue to glorify a racist figure. Anyone can see that,” Hopson said. “From the support I received, I can tell so many students feel the same.”
Referencing Gibson’s previously quoted statement regarding the school’s desire not to “cancel a House namesake,” Hopson responded, “This issue is about so much more than ‘cancel culture’. It’s about dismantling institutionalized racism that seeps into every crack of society. Even the Christian parts.”
Amara Pierre, Creative Director of The Table, a King’s student organization focused on giving a voice to minority groups represented at King’s, also responded to the recent namesake controversy calling the College’s Instagram post disappointing.
“Ronald Reagan does not uphold true Christian values in my opinion. Why should we honor someone like that?” Pierre asked. “I genuinely appreciate how students–my peers, are using their voices to bring light to how this former President should not represent this school in any matter.”
When the initial news surfaced that King’s would be retaining Reagan as a namesake, Pierre said she was embarrassed.
“But I hold onto hope that they will do the right thing this time around,” Pierre said.