Students: Rename building called 'Lynch' after ex-president (not the Onion)

[Nye Bevan]

ANNVILLE, Pa. (AP) - Students at a small Pennsylvania college are demanding that administrators rename a building called "Lynch Memorial Hall" because of the racial overtones of the word "lynch."

The building is named after Clyde A. Lynch, who was president of Lebanon Valley College from 1932 until his death in 1950.

Students want school officials to either rename the building entirely or add Lynch's first name and middle initial, saying the word recalls the public executions of black men by white mobs in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

It was included on a list of demands that students presented to the school on Friday. Other demands include a more diverse curriculum, more sensitivity training for staff and regular surveys of the racial climate on campus.

http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20151208_ap_6d12912e4b50492b9a3cbf68d9e7f0c7.html#r8EwoXCuW7PfMVk7.99

I guess when students are desperately seeking stuff to be offended about a sign that includes the word "Lynch" is an irresistible target.

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. The College is not doing its job. The students did not do theirs.

[linuxman]

2. LOL, WTF?

Holy shit. I'm not even sure how to respond to this.

Our nation's future.

[marmar]

3. The building renaming demand is just silly......

..... the rest of the demands seem perfectly reasonable.

[PersonNumber503602]

15. It is sad they don't realize that this hurts their more legit desires

If I didn't personally know some people with this mindset, I would think these ideas were being planted as a form of sabotoge. Which even if that was the case, that doesn't let these people off the hook for being stupid enough to think it makes sense. I wonder how much of this comes from the mindset that all ideas from out friends/allies/whatever are good ideas that we must support. I've seen that a bit, and never really understood why people are reluctant to tell some people that they don't agree with everything they say just because they support many of the same causes. I am rambling. Sorry.

[Dorian Gray]

53. Yeah

it makes me roll my eyes at them and ignore the more important things that should be discussed. I'd move on to other people who don't include ridiculous demands.

[Go Vols]

4. :/

[Throd]

5. The outrage addicts have fucked all the low hanging fruit and are climbing higher up the tree.

I applaud them in their efforts, if only for comedic purposes.

[WillowTree]

6. These offended Delicate Flower student groups are entirely out of control.

[NaturalHigh]

7. I'm guessing this college doesn't have a brain surgery program.

[TM99]

8. The dumbing down continues!

This is so ridiculous, all I can do is laugh.

[hifiguy]

22. It's like watching a duck try to fuck a football,

isn't it?



And these are college students?

[Warren DeMontague]

50. No thanks.

I'm more of a beaver guy.

[lancer78]

9. did they just get

A whole foods grocery in the tiwn?

[Doctor_J]

10. And everyone in the US with the surname Lynch should be immediately renamed

[Township75]

11. I wish these types of articles listed the names of the students involved

We could start a Do Not Hire national database. Seriously could you imagine having to work with people like this??!

[SickOfTheOnePct]

29. +1000000000000000000

"are you now or have you ever been part of a protest movement for something completely fucking ridiculous?"

[KamaAina]

12. Looks like my best friend from childhood is going to have to change his name.

Not to mention the Attorney General and Seattle's star running back, both of whom are African American.

[hifiguy]

23. My favorite film director, too.

[Doctor_J]

28. And a fine, albeit deceased character actor

[madinmaryland]

38. Seattle's star running back doesn't talk, so that's not an issue. Maybe they should be worried

about the Potatoes and Dan Snyder.

[PersonNumber503602]

13. And sadly they are serious.

One good thing is that the more ridiculous things like this are not being received well in general. I just hope that sinks in and they realize they are doing more harm than good. It just makes it harder to defend more legimate issues when people on the other side can lump everything in with bs like this.

[snooper2]

14. And we can thank the keyboard SJW of the intertubes for helping to create these idiots

Imagine when they start entering the workplace-


All the poor HR managers and directors of the World

HELP HELP somebody entered my SAFE SPACE!

[LanternWaste]

16. I can certainly understand why you focus on merely one of their many requests

I can certainly understand why you focus on and lampoon merely one of their many request, as it would serve your bias poorly to mock a diverse curriculum or surveys on racial climate. I'd also do my best to pretend that wasn't the case at all, and possibly even act offended myself at the mere suggestion.

Goodness... college students behaving silly. What a sad state of affairs we've come to

[Nye Bevan]

18. My OP title was the headline of the linked article.

All the stories about this focus on the "Lynch" issue.

[1939]

57. What the pluperfect hell is a "diverse curriculum"?

Is there a special version of differential equations for POC?

[edhopper]

17. I actually think they are being reasonable

they don't want his name taken away.Just asks for the full name.

[kiva]

19. Or they could just educate themselves

about the name of the building...since this is college and they are presumably improving their critical thinking skills.

[edhopper]

24. Sounds like they know why it's named that

they just don't like the way it sounds and the connotations.

Students want school officials to either rename the building entirely or add Lynch's first name and middle initial, saying the word recalls the public executions of black men by white mobs in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

[kiva]

25. I read the article,

I simply think the students are wrong. Who exactly are they worried about misinterpreting the name? If they know why it's called the Lynch building, who else do they think will be talking about the building? Parents? Other students?

If they truly can't let such a word pass their lips, maybe they can refer to it as "The building that shall be nameless" or maybe "The building that I go to for the critical thinking class that I'm failing."

[edhopper]

34. We have a difference of opinion /nt

[philosslayer]

32. I agree

It could be very jarring for a first time visitor to the campus who doesn't have the proper context. Seems like a reasonable enough request.

[mike_c]

58. only an idiot would think the building is named for mob violence against minorities....

College buildings are generally named after their purpose (Science A, West Gym) or after a person. We have a building on my campus named Seimen Hall, pronounced "semen hall." It's the butt of occasional jokes, but no one really thinks it's named for ejaculate.

[teenagebambam]

59. Anyone who visits a campus

and legitimately believes that an educational building was named after the act of lynching deserves to be jarred.

[hifiguy]

20. Jesus H Christ in combat boots. There are NO WORDS for this kind of stupid.

[Warren DeMontague]

45. THE LOCAL ART HOUSE THEATER MUST IMMEDIATELY CEASE SHOWING MULHOLLAND DRIVE,

BLUE VELVET, ERASERHEAD, and DUNE


Okay, honestly, they're probably not showing Dune anyway

[hifiguy]

46. By their "logic", which they apparently pinched from Hannity

so they must.

But over my dead body.

[Warren DeMontague]

49. No hay banda.

No hay orchestra.

[mike_c]

60. I lived in Annville for two years....

The "local art theater" is probably in Baltimore. The college is a church school-- Methodist, IIRC? I think parents send their kids there because just about the worst trouble they can get into is cow tipping Mennonite Guernseys.

[B2G]

21. And fire the Attorney General!!

Add that to our list of demands!!

Cretins.

[romanic]

26. Morons.

Plain and simple.

[Warpy]

27. Kiddie Newspeak has gone too far

By objecting to things like common surnames, they're making some legitimate objections to hate speech look frivolous by association.

At some point, people are going to have to look at these obstreporous brats and tell them "NO!"

This might be one of those times.

[Eleanors38]

30. Well, the hall could have been named after Borden...

...or a hall named after Hogg as at U. of Texas.

[Bucky]

31. They should rename anything named after Barney Frank because it offends vegetarians

[madinmaryland]

39. Or trying to connect a green dinosaur to a freaking hot dog.

[Warren DeMontague]

42. Imagine all the people who are triggered by buildings named after Lyndon Johnson

[madinmaryland]

51. At least the buildings are not named HUGH Johnson!! SERIESLY!!!

or Dick Hertz!!

[Matariki]

35. Adding his first name seems reasonable enough.

The county I live in renamed itself from King County (after William R.) to King County (after Martin Luther). A marked improvement, I'd say

[Kalidurga]

36. Madeline Rape

Is a real name. If she that had been the name of the college president how many people would like the name of the hall to be the
Rape Memorial Hall. The request is not ridiculous at all.

[Warren DeMontague]

43. I think "ridiculous request hall" has a nice ring to it

[Kalidurga]

44. I think I don't give a damn about how people have suffered historically has a better ring to it.

[Warren DeMontague]

47. Sure, except the English language is complex and some words have multiple meanings.

far be it for me to suggest that people try to grasp both the context and complexity of language instead of knee-jerking against a name which is the same as a different word but contains a completely different underlying meaning.

Yes, much better to eliminate wrongthink and reduce language to the most bare essentials because speech is bad and dangerous and doubleplusungood.

[Kalidurga]

54. Yet, it's okay to ignore people who have every right to not like the name.

It must be uber expensive to add the first name to the hall and or to put his initials on the plaque.

[Warren DeMontague]

61. It's also okay to delineate exactly where understanding & accomodation turn into silliness

and this is well into silliness territory.

I don't think the current Attorney General is any great shakes, but should she eventually become a historical figure of great reknown, what then? She can't have any stuff named after her because her last name happens to be synonymous with a violent act?

Should we rename Kill Devil Hills because the name promotes murder and devil worship?


Also, college students are supposed to be operating on a certain intellectual level. One hopes (at least I do) that that level is at least advanced enough that they are able to comprehend the difference - and that there IS a difference - between the linguistic semantic representation of the thing (i.e. words) and that which the word represents.

To do otherwise is to confuse the map with the territory, the menu with the meal.

In this case, though, I guess not.

[Kalidurga]

62. So you object to simply adding the first name or the initials to the plaque

it seems more an act of obstinace than an intellectual exercise, but each to their own I guess.

[Warren DeMontague]

65. I want people to understand viscerally that even though the name shares the same series of letters

it doesn't mean even close to the same thing, and it is the meaning - not the series of letters - that is the thing they have their problem with.

Beyond that, I don't really care what this particular school does, but I think this is silly, to the point where I read these stories and I seriously start to wonder if some of this shit isn't some kind of deep cover Koch-bros funded performance art with the express purpose of making "liberals" look ridiculous.

[Nye Bevan]

52. "Rapeseed" needs to be renamed "Affirmative Consent Seed" (nt)

[Kalidurga]

55. Good idea

[DemocraticWing]

66. Well now you've just gone and brought sense into it.

How dare you muck up the narrative like that? Don't you know good liberals who watch Bill Maher and jerk off to South Park have to complain incessantly about minorities and college students? It's in the code!

[smirkymonkey]

37. This is racist against Irish people!!!

The stupid is pretty thick with this one.

[madinmaryland]

40. Did someone just mention the Fighting Amish??

[Warren DeMontague]

41. They could save money by just swapping out one letter and calling it "Lunch Memorial Hall"

mmmm, lunch

[Warren DeMontague]

48. The last name of the Attorney General of the United States- an AA woman- is "Lynch"

I guess despite her position of historic prominence, she can never have anything named after her.

[mike_c]

56. wow, I used to be on the faculty at LVC....

It was a pretty parochial place twenty years ago, in every sense of the word.

[Initech]

63. And the PC police strike again.

[philosslayer]

67. I wish we had a like button

For this post

[loyalsister]

64. So sick of people bashing these students

I know them, and the real children are the people who get off on making themselves feel surperior by minimizing what they go through.

[Facility Inspector]

68. I know, right?

I mean, some places don't even have wifi!

Horror!

[hifiguy]

69. What are they "going through" by being exposed to a

perfectly common Irish surname? Do explain.

I repeat, Jebus Haploid Christ in combat boots.

[loyalsister]

71. They have been working very hard to educate people about

the systemic racism that defines their experience and where it began while obnoxious white people intentionally disregarded and dismissed what kind of meaning they might find in knowing that a university campus built by slaves has buildings named after prominant slave owners as is the case in Columbia, MO.
Yet, white people (even DUers) are offended at the suggestion that they should take an interest in the experience of anyone but their narcissitic selves.
How many white people have to walk by a building and be reminded of what happened to uncle Charlie at the hands of the KKK? At the very least people could listen and have a little sympathy for what it might be like rather than deriding and ridiculing them.

[MrScorpio]

70. Wait... What?!? nt