What do you think about the Mulledy Hall name change?

This week has been a historic one for Georgetown.

Yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont gave a speech on democratic socialism to a packed audience in Gaston Hall.

And just last weekend GU approved the renaming of two buildings with ties to slave ownership.

As a report from The Washington Post confirms, “Mulledy Hall, a new student dormitory named for the president who authorized the sale of about 272 slaves to a Louisiana plantation owner in 1838, will be called Freedom Hall until a permanent name is chosen.

“McSherry Hall, which houses a meditation center and was named for another university president who served as an adviser on the slave sale, will be called Remembrance Hall until it is renamed.”

We asked around Georgetown what students think of this unprecedented change at the university.

McSherry Hall, temporarily re-named Remembrance Hall

Joseph Kim, a sophomore in the college, explained he was surprised.

He said: “I don’t know for sure but I don’t think anything like this had ever been done before in Georgetown’s history. There’s a precedent that has just been set that paves the way for actions on a similar chord in the future.”

Another sophomore in the college, Rodney Williams, added: “I think that renaming Mulledy Hall was something that needed to happen.

“To let the building continue to be named after someone that was complicit in slavery and the selling of African-Americans was inappropriate and sent an awful message to current Hoyas.

“It means Georgetown is committed to its students and the voices they have. It also goes towards showing Hoyas of color that Georgetown values their presence on campus.”

A student at the School of Foreign Service, however, said he was ambivalent. Sophomore Hugh Ramlow added: “I think it sets a precedent for an unrealistic goal.”

Mulled Hall will temporarily called Freedom Hall

Hugh added: “If we’re going to condemn anything or anyone in our history who did something or stood for something morally abhorrent, we should do a whole lot more than just change the name of Mulledy Hall.

“We should start by changing the school colors, since the grey stands for the Confederacy, which stood for slavery.

“Then we should change the name of the Hariri building, since Rafik Hariri made a fortune extorting his own people while Prime Minister of Lebanon, and was a generally ineffective and corrupt leader.

“My point is that if Georgetown was consistent in this way of thinking, a ton of things would change about the school. If students are really upset about this, they should be upset about the principle of the thing, not just the one specific instance of Mulledy Hall.”

Zachary Currie, a sophomore in the college, said he was relieved at the name change. A freshman MSB student, Virginia Hanstad, agreed.

She said: “I think it would be great to name the building after a notable Georgetown alum of color.”

Zachary added: “It means that GU is not ignoring the history of particular groups of students, but there are greater issues that also need to be addressed.

“If they want to name it after a person of color, I’m sure that there is someone in Georgetown’s history who was influential and worthy of recognition.”

Javier Aquino SFS ’17

Junior in the School of Foreign Service, Javier Aquino added the change is satisfying, as did freshman MSB student Alvin Huang.

Javier said: “It’s good that GU is recognizing these issues’ existence especially in the face of what has happened in Missouri and around the world.

“I think it would be more symbolic or powerful to name it after a person, rather than abstract ideas.”

Alvin agreed: “I think naming buildings after people that have influenced our campus is a great idea, and I think there are plenty of influential people of color that have graced our campus in the past.”

A freshman in the college, Ganzorig Batbold, said the name change was “past-due.”

“It’s a start for Georgetown’s journey to compensate for the darker parts of its history.”