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uke University in Durham, North Carolina, earlier this year changed the name of Jarvis Residence Hall back to its original name of West Residence Hall. The change continues the wave of renaming campus buildings after re-examining the actions and beliefs of the buildings’ namesakes. At Duke, the building had been named for Thomas Jordan Jarvis, who served as the North Carolina governor and as a U.S. senator. He was also a white supremacist who had connections to an incident in 1898 when a mob destroyed property and attacked and killed Black residents of Wilmington. Duke’s president acknowledged that the renaming is part of an ongoing effort to appreciate “Duke’s history of innovation, service, and leadership while acknowledging the entwinement of that history with slavery, segregation, and white supremacy.”
Similar actions are occurring at campuses across the country. Alabama State University in Montgomery is in the process of renaming the residence hall formerly named for past governor and Ku Klux Klan supporter, Bibb Graves. In addition, the names of new residence halls at Princeton University in New Jersey are being carefully considered. A new residential college (to be built on the site of First College, formerly known as Wilson College in honor of President Woodrow Wilson) will be named for Mellody Hobson, a 1991 Princeton graduate who said of the designation, "No one from my family had graduated from college when I arrived at Princeton from Chicago, and yet even as I looked up at buildings named after the likes of Rockefeller and Forbes, I felt at home. My hope is that my name will remind future generations of students – especially those who are Black and brown and the 'firsts' in their families – that they too belong. Renaming Wilson College is my very personal way of letting them know that our past does not have to be our future.”
As campuses prepped for students’ return, American Campus Communities announced a collaboration with RB, the makers of Lysol, for their “Be safe. Be smart. Do your part.” program. The program analyzed community cleaning and disinfection protocols; provided ACC community staff with cleaning guidelines, procedures, and training on the proper products to use; and educated residents on appropriate cleaning and healthy living practices.
“You can verify cleanliness with your eyes, but knowing something is appropriately disinfected requires an understanding that the right product is being used in the right manner,” says Bill Bayless, chief executive officer at American Campus Communities. “Our collaboration will help ensure our team members have the necessary cleaning products as well as protocols to follow so they can take the steps needed to help residents do their part when it comes to mitigating the spread of the virus.”
As a component of ACC’s initiative, ACC conducted an innovative touchpoint analysis of community amenity areas serving residents. The halls feature touchless soap dispensers, foot pulls and hand dryers, and a reduced number of touchpoints in community spaces wherever possible. In addition, disinfectant wipe stands and touchless hand sanitizing stations are placed strategically throughout the community. Learn more.
In addition, last month ACC released a report on student mental health among their residents. The survey included 12,188 completed responses ranging from incoming first-year students to graduate students in 65 university markets in the U.S. Among the results, 85% of college students are more stressed in comparison to previous years, 78% of students surveyed feel comfortable having conversations to check-in regarding other's mental wellbeing, and more than half (57%) said it would be helpful to have simple resources to support others. Read the full report here.
The Brill Company announced the addition of Angela Powell to its sales team for Tennessee, Kentucky, the Florida Panhandle, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Powell is a 25-year veteran of the university and college campus promotion market. She has developed and maintained relationships and acted as a liaison for associations and group partnerships including ACUHO-I, NASPA, ACPA, and NACURH.
Software company Adirondack Solutions has partnered with SafeVaxx, a philanthropic organization of medical, financial, and public health resources formed to assist campuses in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. SafeVaxx currently is targeting institutions with total on-campus populations of more than 3,000 people to provide bio-surveillance, on-site PCR lab testing with 48-hour results, medical staffing, and vaccine readiness. Learn more here.