U. of Texas Regents Strike Off Klan Leader's Name From Dormitory
The University of Texas system's Board of Regents voted unanimously on Thursday to erase a painful reminder of the past by removing the name of a Ku Klux Klan leader and former law professor from a dormitory on the flagship campus here.
President William Powers Jr. recommended last Friday that the regents follow the suggestion of a 21-member review panel and rename Simkins Hall as Creekside Residence Hall.
The new name, which takes effect immediately, refers to the building's proximity to a creek that runs through the campus.
The two-story brick dormitory, which was built in 1954, had been named for William Stewart Simkins, a law professor at Texas from 1899 until his death, in 1929. Mr. Simkins, who was a colonel in the Confederate Army, helped organize the Klan in Florida after the Civil War....
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President William Powers Jr. recommended last Friday that the regents follow the suggestion of a 21-member review panel and rename Simkins Hall as Creekside Residence Hall.
The new name, which takes effect immediately, refers to the building's proximity to a creek that runs through the campus.
The two-story brick dormitory, which was built in 1954, had been named for William Stewart Simkins, a law professor at Texas from 1899 until his death, in 1929. Mr. Simkins, who was a colonel in the Confederate Army, helped organize the Klan in Florida after the Civil War....