School IDs buildings honoring racists, says names can't go

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The University of South Carolina president has indicated he does not plan to ask the Legislature for permission to change the names of nearly a dozen campus buildings that a special committee says honors racists and Civil War figures.

Instead, interim university president Harris Pastides said he will encourage school leaders to concentrate on honoring deserving people on new buildings with the same committee suggesting a number of prominent Black leaders.

The police killing of George Floyd in May 2020 led to the removal of building names and statues to racists and Confederates across the South.

None of that happened in South Carolina because of a law called the Heritage Act passed in 2000 that requires a two-thirds vote from the General Assembly to change the name of any building based on a historical figure. In the past 21 years, lawmakers have not even taken a vote on any request from the Civil War or segregation eras.

The University of South Carolina has a special committee that has been studying building names across campus for two years. They found 11 they felt were named for racists, including a health center named for U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, who died in 2003. Thurmond started his political career fighting against people who wanted to end segregation, according to a draft report by the committee obtained by The State newspaper.

The committee is expected to issue its report Friday. But Pastides went ahead and sent a letter to campus about it two days before.

“State law currently prevents us from changing those names, and we will follow the law. However, we have a duty to tell a more complete history of these individuals and their acts in the context of our shared community values,” Pastides wrote.

The interim president's letter seemed to indicate the university would not...