Jarvis dorm renamed West Residence Hall, due to former namesake’s racist history

<p>A poster hanging from a window hints at Jarvis dorm's purpose as an isolation space, reading, "We are bored. Yell up to say hi."&nbsp;</p>

A poster hanging from a window hints at Jarvis dorm's purpose as an isolation space, reading, "We are bored. Yell up to say hi." 

Duke has renamed East Campus’ Jarvis dorm to its original name of West Residence Hall, President Vincent Price wrote in a Thursday message to the community. 

The change is because Thomas Jordan Jarvis, a North Carolina governor and United States senator for whom the dorm was named, was a white supremacist with ties to the 1898 Wilmington insurrection—in which a white mob killed Black residents of the city and destroyed their businesses and property—Price wrote. The Board of Trustees approved the removal at Price’s recommendation and with the support of the President’s Advisory Committee on Institutional History. 

Duke will place a plaque describing the decision at the entrance of the building, Price wrote. 

The announcement comes as part of a larger Thursday afternoon update on the University’s anti-racism efforts. 


Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin was editor-in-chief of The Chronicle's 116th volume.

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