About one week ago, a UF student began a petition on change.org, demanding for the Kent Fuchs, UF President, to rename certain UF buildings that were named after previous presidents of UF. This student claims that these buildings "glorify racists at UF." The petition states that the university "boasts student unions, sporting arena libraries, dorms, and other facilities named after racist individuals." According to the petition, Stephen C. O'Connell was a segregationist and had more than 60 black students arrested for refusing to disperse their protest. These students were protesting against O'Connell for being against black enrollment at the university. O'Connell's name is most known for UF's football stadium (The O'Connell Center). Julius Wayne Reitz denied the admission of more than 80 black students, and he disagreed with the admissions of the LGBT students. Reitz's name is most known for UF's student union (Reitz Union). George Smathers was against the Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which allowed black students to receive an education. Smathers' name is most known for the library at UF (The George Smathers Library). Henry H. Buckman is known for passing the Buckman Act, which segregated students by race and gender. Buckman's name is most known for his housing hall (Buckman Hall). The petition has received more than 5,400 signatures in one week.
Although these buildings have been named after past presidents of UF, students have not paid attention to the name of these buildings. Because the Black Lives Matter protests are occurring from the murder of George Floyd, UF students suddenly want these buildings to be renamed. The petition even states, "With the recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop and other members of the Black community, we have once again witnessed the manifestation of a centuries-old problem for which no real action has been taken."
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