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UC Student Government wants to remove McMicken name from building

187 views · Published 26 November 2018 · 2:09 · Indexed 7 October 2026

Channel: LOCAL 12 · 2018 · News & Politics

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CINCINNATI (WKRC) - If you know the University of Cincinnati, then you know McMicken Hall. It’s the iconic building with the tower that houses the College of Arts & Sciences. Now, the student government wants to change the name.

The student government recently passed a resolution asking the university to remove Charles McMicken’s name from the College of Arts & Sciences. McMicken donated $1 million worth of land to the city of Cincinnati to develop UC in the 1800s.

University researchers say UC’s founder was a paradox. McMicken owned slaves but also gave land to free people of color while possibly fathering a child with one of his slaves.

"I did not know he had such a controversial past, so I believe if there was more education on him then things might turn out differently and more people might want a change in the name,” said UC student Chris Schafer.

That history is what troubles elected student leaders. While some UC students were in favor of the name change, other students say there needs to be some sort of balance to acknowledge the history but not erase it.

"What happened, happened. It's bad, but changing the name won't erase that history part,” said student Haron Khan. “You could change the name to the Parker School of Arts & Sciences, but people will still know the founder was controversial."

"Does that mean we should ignore everything they did? We should take their name off of anything they built? I'm not sure that I would take it that far,” said UC graduate student Cheryl Comparativio.

A spokesperson for UC released the following statement:

As a premier public institution, we realize that the university holds an important public trust to examine both our institutional and wider historical pasts. Heritages that contain exclusion must be open to thorough examination, reflection and discussion."

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