NH schools pressed to drop their namesake, Franklin Pierce – By Mark Hayward (New Hampshire Union Leader) / June 15 2020
Both the UNH Franklin Pierce Law School and Franklin Pierce University are receiving pressure to rename themselves as the nation reevaluates past leaders regarding slavery and racism.
Late last week, officials at the University of New Hampshire’s law school in Concord said they were seeking feedback from students, faculty, staff and alumni, as well as minorities outside of the law school, on whether it should change its name.
That came after several students and alumni encouraged the school to jettison the name of the 14th president (1853-1857).
The Franklin Pierce Law Center merged with UNH in 2010. Just last year, UNH reattached Pierce’s name, believing the name bolstered the school’s reputation in intellectual property law circles.
“1st & foremost, FP was an awful POTUS, reviled now & in his own time, who expanded slavery in the US & whose actions were instrumental in starting the Civil War. His legacy is one NOT worth honoring,” Garth Corriveau, a graduate from the law school, wrote on Twitter.
In an email Friday, officials said the law school is joining the national conversation on systemic racism and will have a decision on the name by Aug. 1.
Across the country, movements inspired by the police killing of George Floyd are prompting a rethinking of historical monuments. For example, protesters in Richmond, Va., toppled the statue of Confederacy president Jefferson Davis, who was Pierce’s secretary of war.
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