(CNN)Alabama State University (ASU) is the latest entity to remove the name of a controversial figure from its building.
The university removed the name of former Alabama governor Bibb Graves from a residence hall on Wednesday. Graves was propelled into political power in the 1920s through the support of the Ku Klux Klan, the university said. And the hall has been located on the ASU campus since 1928.
The removal of Gibb’s name followed a unanimous vote by the ASU Board of Trustees to change the name of the residence hall that also houses a historic bell tower, the university said.
“I established a committee to research the names that are on our buildings to determine those who were closely associated with racist organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan,” said ASU President Quinton T. Ross Jr. “Bibb Graves was a Klan leader at one point, so the decision was made to remove his name from the building.”
The university said when the name was physically removed, it took two men “less than two minutes to make a change that many have waited to see for years.”
Ross added that the process of selecting the appropriate name to be placed on the bell tower building will now begin.
“We will now begin the process of selecting the appropriate name to be placed on the Bell Tower building,” Ross said.
Source: Alabama State to rename building honoring former governor — a one-time KKK leader
