Committee will include students, faculty and staff

In light of the decision to rename four buildings on the Oregon State University campus, three committees that will include students, faculty and staff will be formed to consider new names for Benton Hall, Avery Lodge and Benton Hall and Annex.

A community meeting will be held on the Corvallis campus during the week of April 2 where recommendations for new names will be heard, said Steve Clark, vice president of University Relations and Marketing. A website will also be launched to inform community members on the process and where suggestions for names can be made online.

“After the community meeting is held the week of April 2, the three committees will meet to consider the naming input received and to recommend naming suggestions for each of the three buildings to OSU’s Architectural Naming Committee,” Clark said via email. “This Architectural Naming Committee is an on-going university committee that is made up of students, faculty, staff and administrators that provides building and place naming recommendations to President Ed Ray, who makes all final naming decisions.”

Ray is anticipated to have a decision on the new names for the buildings by April 23.

The university will place permanent historical information in the lobbies of the three buildings that will be changing names, Arnold Dining Center and Gill Coliseum Clark said. This information is meant to reflect on the history of the specific buildings and will include the names that have been used over time for each building. The university also plans to document and display the history of all OSU buildings in the future.

       The changing of the buildings’ names is a result from when members of the community voiced their opinion and expressed outrage against the original namesakes in the past two years. The accusations were that the beliefs by the men the buildings were named off did not reflect the current values and mission statements of OSU, according to the Building and Place Names webpage. After much consideration from the community and formed committees, President Ray announced his decision to rename three of the five buildings in debate on Nov. 27, 2017.  

More information can be found on the OSU Building and Place Names website.